Konoha High School vs Duo
by xDemonxDuox
Summary: Rein and Xola are the new girls around campus. Again. Things don't seem much different than the other schools that they've been to, but this one might be more than it seems.
1. Introduction

**Intro**

**Getting to know the extra characters**

**Ok, this story has to deal with most of the Naruto characters, but my good friend and we have decided to put our personal characters into it ^_^ here's a small brief about them:**

**Disclaimer: Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto. We own the extra characters, and extra themes. :D**

**Rein: Crimson haired, red eyes, has red wolf ears and tail, 5'0", muscular and slender. Pale skin and long nails.**

**Personality: Feisty, but friendly. Innocent. A total klutz. Easy to piss off, and goes into a fit of rage when pissed off. Loves to laugh and be with friends.**

**Birthday: December 8**

**Friends: Xola, Temari, Shikamaru, Hinata, Hidan, Itachi, **

**Best friends: Xola, Sasuke, Hidan (sometimes Itachi)**

**Relatives: None**

**Crush: Deidara**

**Cell phone: Blue Rumor**

**Car: Black Corvette Stingray Concept **

**Xola: Dark canary orange hair, yellow-orange eyes, has large cat ears and tail, 5'2", muscular, average weight.**

**Personality: pretty happy-go-lucky, yet easy to anger. Seems almost stupid, but is really very smart. Drama magnet. When in rage, she can barely tell the difference between friends and enemies. Loves to smile and chill with friends. Doesn't mind afternoon naps either **

**=^-^=**

**Birthday: April 1**

**Friends: Rein :D, Temari, Hinata, Naruto, Kiba, Hidan, Deidara, Shikamaru, Sasori, Itachi**

**Best Friends: Rein :D, Temari, Kiba, TOBI!!!!!**

**Relatives: Hatake Kakashi**

**Crush: Sasori ^_^**

**Cell phone: iPhone with a red and black cover**

**Car: Yellow mustang with back stripes**


	2. New Arrivals

**Disclaimer: Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto. We own the extra characters, and extra themes. :D**

**Chapter One**

**New Arrivals**

**"Alright, you're all set!"**

**"Thank you very much!"**

**Hatake Xola skipped out of the Kohona High school doors, gripping her new schedule for her third year of high school. She had completed her first two years in another village, but feeling unsettled she had moved to Kohona in hopes of finding a new life. **

**She spotted her friend, Takanashi Amaya, also known as Rein, under a nearby tree, waiting for Xola and waving. **

**"Let me see your schedule," Rein demanded as soon as Xola was next to her in the shade. The two girls scanned the papers and squealed with delight when they saw that they had four classes together, Orchestra, Gym, Physics and Calculus.**

**"The teachers seem a bit odd, though," Rein commented as they made their way to their assigned dorm rooms that they would be sharing with each other and a few other people. "My homeroom teacher's name is Pein, and our Calculus teacher is Jiraya. I heard he was a pervert..." **

**"Yeah, so they say. My homeroom is Asuma. He seems like an ok guy."**

**"Yeah.... Do you think we're going to find our "Mr. Right" at this school?" Rein wondered aloud. **

**"Who knows? Anything can happen!" The girls laughed as they walked in the doors. **

**"Hello there, are you girls new to this school?" The receptionist lady asked with a smile.**

**"Yes we are," Xola chirped. She told the lady their names and she gave each of them a card and their room number, waving as they headed towards the elevator. **

**"Do you think our roommates are going to be total snobs?" Rein stage whispered.**

**"I sure hope not...." Xola whispered back. They punched the button for the fifth floor. **

**As they made their way up, they noticed two guys in the elevator with them, one had red hair, tan-ish skin and red eyes. He looked muscular but was very skinny and about 5'4''. The other guy was a blonde, with hair that went to his elbows. He had blue eyes and was about 5'3" and also skinny. **

**"You guys on the fifth floor too?" Xola asked casually. **

**"Yeah," the red head replied. "You guys new here?"**

**"Yup," She replied boredly. **

**No one spoke for a while. Rein noticed the redhead glance at Xola every now and then. An evil smile played at her lips. **

**They reached the fifth floor after a long silence. The guys turned to the left. **

**"I guess we're to the right," Rein said, pulling Xola in the right direction. They stopped at room 358.**

**"Well, here goes." Xola slid the card into the slot. The light turned green and there was an audible click of the lock. **

**Rein turned the knob and opened the door to hear loud excited voices. **

**They stepped through the door and saw 4 other girls in the living room, chattering away. One was a blonde, one had pink hair, one had purple hair, and the last one had darker blonde hair in two ponytails. They all stopped and turned to stare at the newcomers. **

**"Oh! These must be the newbies!" Said the blonde, no smile on her face. Rein immediately knew that this one was a brat. **

**"Yeah, what's it to you?" Rein demanded, stepping forward. **

**"What did you say?!" The blonde said angrily, stepping towards Rein.**

**"Guys, its ok! Calm down," Stammered a dark purple haired girl with lavender eyes. She's the shy one, Xola thought. **

**"Whatever," Rein mumbled. Xola could tell Rein was still pretty peeved over the blonde, so she grabbed her sleeve and started dragging her and her luggage to the small dual living spaces inside the dorm.**

**"Heh heh..." She let out a nervous chuckle. "Sorry about that! We'll just go put our stuff away now." She threw the bags, Rein along with them, into the room. Xola stood there stupidly for a moment, then rushed in and closed the door, locking it behind her.**

**The room was very small, like it had to be, to hold two other rooms just like it and a living area all in one dorm. There were two twin-sized beds on either side of the room and a window in between, along with a small bathroom and shower. All in all, the room was white and dull.**

**Xola quickly helped Rein up off the floor and separated their bags. She put all of hers on her bed and turned around to face Rein, who just finished doing the same thing.**

**"Xola, sometimes you are one of the biggest dorks I know." She said, smiling. Xola laughed lightly.**

**"Thank you!" This made Rein laugh, too. "Let's get our stuff unpacked now, you know, to get it out of the way." Xola knew Rein wasn't calmed down enough from the previous engagement with the blonde brat.**

**"Good plan." Rein said, turning to her things and taking things out. It took only a few minutes, much shorter than Xola had anticipated. "Xola, we need to pick our uniforms up later, too." Xola's ears pricked up, before she slumped onto her bed and groaned. "Xola, you baby! We knew there were gonna be uniforms from the very beginning!" Rein said, obviously amused by Xola's dramatic reactions.**

**"But come on! Did you see the other girls? They were wearing skirts, Rein! Skirts!" She slumped more, giving the appearance of an over cooked ramen noodle. Rein knew this was going to happen sooner or later. Xola hated skirts and dresses, and would not wear them without a proper bribe or putting up a good fight.**

**"Xola, please don't make this harder than it has to be." She was doing her best to avoid Xola going into a fit of rage. "How about we don't pick them up until later, how does that sound?"**

**".....Ok..." Xola gave in faster than usual, and her ears pricked up a little bit, showing that she was feeling a little better. Rein smirked and her tail swished in the air once before yanking Xola to her feet.**

**"Come on Xo, we'd better go out and at least introduce ourselves." Her ears went straight up again and her smile showed that she was her normal, overly happy self.**

**"Ok!" She said, sliding open the door.**

**The girls were talking in quieter tones now, their faces more serious. The blond was in the corner, staring at the wall, obviously ignoring them. The rest was sitting on the couch, looking sort of nervous. They looked at them with less hostility then the first meeting. **

**"Well, since were here, we might as well introduce ourselves. I'm Hatake Xola and this is Takanashi Amaya, a.k.a. Rein," Xola said cheerfully, aware of Rein's tense posture. **

**"Nice to meet you. I'm Temari," the darker blonde said.**

**"I'm Haruno Sakura," The pink haired girl said. "That's Yamanaka Ino over there. She's the brat of this room," she added, and Ino scoffed quietly and turned her head. **

**"And I'm...Hyuga Hinata," The purple haired girl said quietly, looking at the floor. **

**'So we have a loud mouth, a happy one, a brat, and a shy kid. This is going to be fun,' Rein thought, staring Ino down when the blonde turned to stare at her. **

**"Well!" Xola said loudly, a little to cheerful, breaking the silence. "We're going to take a tour of the place, so if you'll excuse us." She said, dragging Rein out the door and into the hallway..**

**"I don't like that Ino-girl," Rein grumbled sullenly, walking quickly to match Xola's long legged pace. "There's something about her that makes me want to throw a book at her!" **

**"I'm with you there," Xola agreed half-heartily. "but then again, we don't know them well. At the end of the year we all will be good friends."**

**"It's so not like you to talk this way. Are you on drugs?" Rein said incredulously.**

**"Whatever Rein," Xola laughed, stabbing the button of the elevator again. **

**"Hey, look who it is, Xola," Rein nudged the girl, a smug grin on her face. **

**"What?" Xola said confused. She looked in the direction Rein was indicating. The two guys from the elevator earlier were down the hallway, talking to someone in another room. **

**The red head seemed to feel their stare and turned to meet Xola's gaze. She went a deep shade of red and turned away. Rein laughed quietly, poking Xola in the ribs, making her squeal loudly and blush even more. **

**The elevator doors opened and they stepped in and punched the ground floor button. **

**"I can't believe you did that!" Xola complained as they rode down slowly. **

**"Well, he was checking you out! What else could I do?" Rein said innocently, her tail up and waving. **

**"Gah! That was embarrassing," Xola covered her face, blushing again.**

**"Nah, I think he likes you already."**

**"No he doesn't, I barely know him. I don't even know his name!" **

**Xola looked up at the ceiling in fake agony. **

**Rein grinned, she loved to torment her friend, but this time she was serious. **

**"I seriously think he does! Would I lie?" Rein added, folding her arms.**

**"No..." Xola mumbled, her shoulders dropping in defeat.**

**"There! But you should talk to him. He seems really nice, and he's super cute," Rein winked. **

**"Ok, if you say so...." she said as the elevator doors opened. The duo walked at a slower pace out of the elevator, out of the building, and into the sunlight. Rein held up her hand to shade her face from the sun.**

**"Ugh, sometimes, I hate the sun..." Rein said to herself. Xola on the other hand, practically glowed in the late morning sun. The rays reflected off her hair and brought out her tan. She smiled as she felt the warmth on her face.**

**"I like the sun in the morning, when it's not all that hot." Xola said.**

**"Yeah, yeah, yeah... I know." Rein began walking again to the path lined with cherry trees on either side. "Let's just keep to the shade, okay?"**

**"Fair enough." Xola shrugged, and followed Rein down the path.**

**Rein: Phew! Wow, that was our first chapter! How exciting! XD**

**Xola: Woot woot! *excitement* XDDD**

**Rein: Well, chapter two will be up in *checks* wow a few minutes!! Hahaha!**

**Xola: Huh, that's not very long... we must write really fast!**

**Rein: Tots! XD Well, please R&R! And, if you don't mind, be gentle with the critics! Let us know if we need to fix anything! 3 **


	3. Settling in, kind of

They toured the whole school, taking in everything they deemed worthy of knowing. Every subject had its own building, even the athletic and fine arts departments. They went inside each one, found their rooms, and met a few of their teachers. They got done at around noon, so they decided to head back towards the dorms.

When they arrived, Xola opened the door and went inside. "We're back." She said, quieter than Rein was anticipating. Xola turned to look at her, noticing her surprised expression.

"What?" She said arching an eyebrow.

"Nothing, I was just expecting you to let the whole world and the read head know that we were back." She said smirking.

"Oh, you wanted me to? Okay! Let's try this again!" Xola left the room, came back in and drew in a huge breath of air. Rein smacked her hand over Xola's mouth before she had the chance to yell.

"No, no, that's not necessary." Rein sighed, letting Xola go, and letting her laughter fill the room.

"You actually thought I was going to do it?" Xola said between laughs. "That is so funny!" She fell onto the couch, still in a fit of laughter. This made Rein start to laugh too.

"Xola, who wouldn't think you would do that? You are such a dork!" She flopped onto the couch next to Xola. It took a few minutes for them to calm down. Then Rein's ears twitched. Xola looked at her curiously.

"I'm hungry." Rein said..

"Me too..." Xola said. "But what else is there to eat around here? I would ask that.... um... what's her name.... ah!" She snapped. "Temari! Or that other girl.... pink hair, seemed smart......" They sat and thought for a second.

"Haruno." Rein said. "Haruno Sakura. Where did they go anyway?"

"How am I supposed to know?" Xola looked around the room for any kind of a clue. "There!" She stood quickly and pointed at the coffee table in the middle of the room. There was a small folded note..

"Good girl." Rein said smiling, reaching up and patting Xola's head jokingly as she walked over to the table and picked up the note. Xola looked over her shoulder. It read:

You can go get lunch in the cafeteria from noon until 1:30.. We got hungry, so we went ahead without you.

-Ino

"Well, I guess that was helpful. Maybe that blonde can be good for something after all.." Rein mumbled.

"Can we just go? I'm hungry......" Xola complained.

"Yeah, let's go." Rein said already opening the door.. Xola's ears pricked up. "But afterwards, we have to get our uniforms, got it?"

"Fine..." Xola grumbled as they walked out the door and headed to the cafeteria.

They ordered sandwiches and sat down in the far corner of the lunch room. They ate in silence, listening to the roar of the other students laughing and chattering away.

The lunch room seemed to be separated into seven groups: the Asians, the ghetto people, the non-ghetto people, the geeks, the preps, the jocks, and a random group.

"Ready to go?" Rein asked when she noticed that Xola's plate was emptied.

"Yeah..." Xola said and got up, dumping her tray in the trash can right next to her.

They headed over to the nearest exit, walking casually and calmly despite the stares. As they walked, Rein noticed as she passed by a large group of girls, all staring and cooing at a group of people in the corner of the lunch room, sitting with a few guys. He had raven black hair and black eyes, his skin was fairly pale and he was tall and muscular. He sat with three other guys, the blonde and red-head from earlier, and a black-haired man with black eyes as well.

"Those guys must be popular..." Xola murmured over Rein's shoulder, staring at the crowd as well.

"Mmhmm," Rein agreed, looking forward ahead.

Suddenly, a foot stuck out of the crowd in front of Rein, causing her to trip face first into the wall..

"Oops! Sorry!" Ino's high mocking voice rose from the crowd of giggles.

Rein slowly straightened up and turned towards Ino, blood dripping from her nose.

Xola stepped forward, she knew what was going to happen. She noticed that the guys at the table were staring at them.

"You. Didn't." Rein said darkly, her eyes narrowed with anger.

"What now, red-head? Your just a little newbie that doesn't belong here,'' she laughed, sneering.

"Who gives you the right to say stuff like that? Are you queen of the world? Are you god? Who ARE you any way, besides some dumb blonde gawking at guys all day?" Rein shot back.

"How dare you say that to me!" Ino stood up, all humor gone.

"See? You think your all high and mighty but you aren't something special. Your just a little. Snot-nosed. Blonde."

Ino lunged for Rein just as she lunged for the blonde. They fell to the floor, fighting and growling at each-other.

"See? You fight like a GIRL!" Rein howled out, wrestling with her.

Out of nowhere, someone shouted, "FOOD FIGHT!" as a tomato hit Xola in the face.. Xola ran after the person who hit her as food began flying through the air.

The cafeteria was in chaos, everyone throwing something or fighting or just trying to escape. Rein and Ino were still fighting and Xola now had a guy in a headlock, with two other guys trying to aid him, but failing when Xola kicked them away.

"STOP IT RIGHT NOW!!" A loud voice roared out. Everyone froze, people in the middle of throwing something, Rein had Ino by her hair, and Xola was in the act of throwing the guy into the trash can.

"What. Is. This?!" They all saw where the voice was coming from. A tall lady with blonde pigtails stood on a table in the middle of the cafeteria.. Her face was contorted with anger and confusion.

"This is ridiculous! I want everyone back to their dorms NOW!" She yelled, pointing her finger towards the doors.

Everyone left the cafeteria quickly. Rein shook Ino off and stalked back to the dorms. Xola dropped the guy she was holding and headed to the other doors in the far corner.

Xola and Rein arrived at their dorms at the same time. They entered silently, heading directly for their room.

Luckily, in their room there was a bathroom with two showers. They stripped and washed down the blood and food from the battle.

Rein was first to finish her shower. She wrapped her hair in a towel and put her pj's on.

"Argh!" She groaned as she threw herself on her small bed. She flung the window open, letting the cool breeze calm her down.

"Hiya!" Xola chirped as she hopped on her bed. It was so typical of Xola to be over the whole thing already.

Rein lifted her head off the pillow. "Hey, for dinner lets eat out. I heard there's a Ramen shop only a few blocks down from here. We can sneak out," She added, grinning evilly. Xola's ears twitched at the sound of ramen. Her eyes narrowed and a smirk grew across her face.

"Count me in." She had a full blown, down right evil looking smile on her face now. It vanished just as fast as it had come. "But when will we leave? I'm still hungry. I want to eat now!" She beat her fist on her bed.

"Chill out, Xo!" Rein laughed. She tossed Xola a candy bar. Xola just sat there, staring at it stupidly. "Go on, eat it. It's not poison, it's a candy bar." Xola looked at Rein, the candy. She blinked once, and absolutely destroyed the rapper and began to devour the candy. Within seconds, there was not a crumb left. She swiftly licked her fingers, and turned her attention back to Rein. "Okay!" She was all smiley again. "All better!"

"Good, I'm glad!" Rein said with a smirk. "Now... If I was a map, where would I be?" Xola looked confused. "We need a map of the area to find a good route to sneak out to get ramen. Get it?"

She nodded. "Got it."

"Good. Now start looking." With that, Xola began tearing through the booklets and guidelines the registration lady had given them, while Rein ripped through every drawer in the room. Finding nothing, Rein began to head for the door, but Xola jumped in her way.

"No, no, I'll go look out there. You keep looking through those papers, okay?"

"Okay, fine." Rein said, knowing that Xola was trying to prevent her from fighting with Ino again. Xola whipped around, and exited the room. As she walked towards the living area, she heard something. She stopped and perked her ears, listening closely. She was next to the first room, but she didn't know whose it was. She concentrated harder and made the voices out to be Ino and Sakura's voices.

"That stupid dog!" Ino's voice sounded like a hiss.

"I told you, her name is Rein. And you kind of brought this upon yourself, you know."

"Shut up, Sakura. You don't like her either, I know you don't."

"Well, yeah. She's not the nicest person ever. But don't even start with that cat girl!" Frustration burned in Sakura's words.

"Oh, Xola, you mean. Yeah, she seems... I don't know... weird."

"She's gonna be worse than Naruto!"

"How so?"

"She's way too happy!"

That is when Xola stopped listening. She had heard enough. She looked in the drawer of the table beside the couch and headed back to the room. As she passed Ino and Sakura's room, though, she heard her and Rein's names being said, but continued walking, letting a hiss escape.

Xola slammed the door shut behind her as she entered the room, her ears turned back in anger.

"What's wrong with you?" Rein said, looking up from the magazine she was reading. She obviously had given up her search.

"Ino... and Sakura..." Xola said through gritted teeth. Rein became very serious.

"What did those brats do?" Rein said in a dark tone.

"They were talking about us." Xola's eyes narrowed. "I'm gonna rip Sakura's head off."

"No you are not. I'm mad too, but we have to live with these people. I'd be more fun to beat them several times over the years, rather than kill them now."

"Yeah, I guess." Xola slumped onto her bed and tossed the map at Rein.

"Hey! You found it!' Rein seemed pleased now. "Now we can see where the best most out of the way spot there is to sneak off campus." She unfolded the map and spread it out on her bed. "Let's see here...." Xola got up and kneeled beside her bed and looked over the map. The scanned and studied it and came across the conclusion that they should probably leave from behind the technology building.

When they both were hungry again and all the other girls were out of the dorm, Rein and Xola left the room and made their way to the technology building only to see that security was everywhere that they had planned to leave. They waited behind some bushes, hoping that at least some of the officers would leave, when someone tapped on Xola's shoulder, making her jump.


	4. New friends, new enemies

"What the heck?!" She hissed quietly, turning around. A pretty cute boy was there, so Xola's rage subsided.

"Trying to sneak off campus?" He asked. Xola nodded. "Then this is not the place to do it.. Come on." He stood up and began walking away. Xola and Rein stopped and looked at each other for a second, then followed him.. He took them behind the language building a few doors down. There were no officers in sight. They took off in a dead run across the street and made their way to the ramen shop. They entered the shop a few minutes later and sat down in a booth.

"You must be new here." The boy said, picking up a menu. Rein and Xola exchanged a glance..

"And you know that how?" Rein said, her eyes slightly narrowed.

"No uniform, and you don't know that security is tightest around the technology building." He passed us menus. "So really, it's kind of obvious." The girls shrugged, picked up the menus, and decided what they wanted. The waiter came over and took their order.

"By the way," began Xola, after the orders had been placed. "What's your name?"

"Shiranui Genma. And you ladies are?"

"Hatake Xola." she said with a big smile.

"Takanashi Amaya. But call me Rein." she was slightly smiling, too. While waiting for the food, they found out that Genma was also a third year and that he was in many of Xola's classes. That made her happy. Eventually the food came. Xola and Genma had both gotten beef miso, and Rein got ramen. They ate in silence, but it didn't last long. Xola was done in a matter of minutes. Rein followed soon after. They both waited quietly for Genma to finish so that they could be back at the room in time for it to not be obvious that they had left campus. A few minutes later, he was done, and the bill came. Xola looked at it for a second and took out the money she had brought. Genma saw this and put his hand on hers to lower it down to the table. Xola blushed lightly and looked at him curiously.

"No, no, no." He took out his wallet. "It would be ungentlemanly of me to not pay for the lovely ladies' meals, now wouldn't it?" Rein was about to protest, but Xola dug her elbow into Rein's ribs, silencing her.

"Thanks! That's really nice of you!" Xola chirped, joy illuminating off of her. Genma grinned and chuckled while putting the money on the table. They got up and left. They arrived at the campus a few moments later.

"So..." Genma began. "Do you guys have your uniforms yet?" Xola's eyes narrowed at the sound of "uniforms" and scowled. Rein sighed.

"No. Xola's been really stubborn today, so we haven't had a chance. We need to go get them today though. Do you know where we need to go to get them?" Genma nodded and smiled.

"I will be happy to show you where to get them. Right this way." He put his hands in his pockets and led the way.

They snuck back into the building in the entrance that they used to sneak out..

"They usually have uniforms in the counselor's office, right next to the main office," Genma explained as they casually walked down the English hallway. "They don't cost money, since you already paid the school fees."

Rein grinned when Xola groaned. Genma smirked at her reaction as they walked in the office doors.

"Hi, how can I help you?" A woman sitting behind a large desk asked pleasantly.

"We're here for our uniforms. We're new here, and we haven't gotten them," Rein explained, grabbing the back of Xola's shirt when she tried to sneak away.

"Alrighty then, what are your sizes?" The receptionist asked as she bustled around a closet.

"Both smalls," Rein said, struggling with the protesting girl. Rein now had Xola in a headlock.

"Ok then! Here you go!" The lady smiled and handed each of them a large box.

"Thank you very much!" Rein smiled and dragged hissing girl out of the office, Genma following with Xola's box.

"What the heck Rein?! I don't wanna wear girly uniforms!" Xola howled as Rein pushed her into the elevator, Genma following then with a huge grin on his face from watching Xola.

"Hey, we have to wear it. Might as well get used to it," Rein replied, letting Xola go.

Xola brushed herself off, glaring at Rein, causing her to bust out laughing. Soon Genma joined in and Xola couldn't help but laugh as well.

The elevator doors opened and they walked out. A couple of people in the hallway stopped talking and two of them glared at Xola and Rein in hatred.

Xola tensed up. It was Sakura and Ino with a couple of other girls they didn't know, but that part didn't matter. None of them seemed to be too happy to see them. Genma seemed to know what was happening and he put his hand on her shoulder, calming her. Rein clenched her fist and her ears flattened, the hairs on her tail sticking up.

"Well, Genma-kun, it was really nice of you to treat us to dinner and help me carry my stuff up here. I'll see you tomorrow when classes start," Xola said quietly. Genma got the message immediately, a rare trait.

"No problem, see ya," He said, waving and headed in the guys hallway.

"Let's go, Xola," Rein said stiffly and began walking. Without Genma help, Xola felt her temper rising again.

They passed the group of girls silently, the tension thick in the air. Rein and Xola stared straight ahead as they passed by the glaring bunch of girls. As they entered their dorm, Sakura and Ino started talking again, their voices loud and angry. The door slid shut and Xola and Rein howled in unison from frustration.

"They are getting on my nerves!" Rein growled as they threw their stuff on their beds.

"I concur!" Xola hissed, flopping on her bed. " I have no idea what their problem is, but they need to get over themselves... We never did anything!"

"I know! Their a bunch of brats who are so full of themselves. At least we have some sane mature people in our dorms, like Temari and Hinata." Rein nodded.

"Totally," Xola agreed whole heartily.

"Well, lets take a look at our uniforms, shall we?" Xola groaned as Rein tore open her box, and blinked in surprise, all the anger gone. "Woah," She murmured.

"What? What?" Xola questioned, her ears perked up curiously. Rein held up the uniforms. The uniform was like any other school girl uniform, only all black. It was a button down shirt, with a white shirt underneath. A red bow was tied around the neck. It had a short black skirt that also came with black thigh-high socks and black shoes.

"It's actually pretty decent," she commented, nodding her head in approval. "No flashy colors or anything."

"I still don't want to wear it," Xola folded her arms, looking stubborn.

"Your such a baby, Xola... We wanted to get into this school, therefore we have to deal with it." Rein sighed, pulling out four other uniforms and began hanging them in the closed.

"Why do we have five uniforms?" Xola questioned, the previous argument forgotten.

"One for each day. On Saturday, we have them washed down at the washing area."

Rein explained, hanging the five pairs of socks along with the uniforms and setting the two pairs of shoes underneath them.

"Ahh, I see," Xola said thoughtfully.

"I'm going to go clean myself up and get more ice," Rein informed Xola as she gathered her bathroom stuff.

"Kay, kay," Xola said tiredly and stretched out on the bed when the bathroom door closed. For some reason she couldn't stop thinking about Genma. He was so nice to us.... Xola pondered, her lips twisting into an involuntary smile.

Ten minutes later, Rein came out of the bathroom to find Xola smiling in a dreamy way. Rein grinned as she picked up the small ice bucket.

"The bathroom's all yours," Rein told the smiling girl as she unlocked the door.

"Ok!" Xola hopped up, more cheerful than usual. Rein shook her head and headed out the door.

The hallway was quiet now. She heard distant voices on the stairs, but she paid no heed. She went over to the ice machines and started scooping up ice into the bucket.

"Move, un," A voice suddenly said behind her, startling her. She glared behind her to see the blonde guy from the elevator earlier.

"Rude much?" the red-head muttered as she pulled her bucket of ice out of the ice machine and began walking away.

"What was that, yeah?" He said angrily, glaring at her with his blue eye.

"I think you heard me, girlie man!" Rein shot back, her ears flattening angrily..

He blinked, then glared dangerously at her, his face turning a shade of pink. "Don't call me that, yeah!"

"I think I will, girlie man," She said slowly to emphasize her point. Even though he pissed her off, his speech habit was kind of cute.

"Whatever, un!" He went back to scooping ice. She let out a short laugh and turned, striding down the hall.

She stormed in the room, glad that Ino or Sakura wasn't in the living room. She opened the door to their room quietly, peeking to check if Xola was awake.

"Rein! What took you so long?" Xola bounded up from her bed. Xola had on the long orange break away pants and a yellow tank top she used as pj's. It really did bring out her tan.

"Sorry, I got into another argument, this time it was the blonde kid in the elevator," Rein sighed tiredly, setting the bucket of ice down in the bathroom.

"Sheesh, at this rate you'll be enemies with the entire school!" Xola teased.

"Well, I'm not a happy-go-lucky person like you," Rein stated, rolling her eyes as she settled herself down on her bed. She had changed into her black pajamas with cherries scattered all over them. There was even a hole for her tail.

"I can't help it. I just cannot be mean like you." Xola whined, grinning. Rein snorted.

"That's cold."

"Says the ice cube."

"Ah, whatever! Let's just go to sleep. We start classes tomorrow, and I don't want to wake up with a headache," Rein stated, ending the discussion. Xola shrugged and turned off the light.

"Night," she said, climbing under the covers.

"Hn," was the reply from the other bed.


	5. Akatsuki meetings

Xola awoke sullenly to the scent of pancakes. She sat up sleepily and looked around, noticing a plate of eggs on the small table that separated their beds.

"Rein?'' She called out, yawning in the process. She stretched. What time was it?

The door opened and Rein stepped in, already in her uniform. "Hurry up, no time for cat naps." 'How ironic, she IS a cat,' Rein thought, shaking her head. "It's 7:45. Class starts at 8:30. If you hurry, you have enough time for a shower. I already showered, so it's all yours. Do you have your schedule?" she asked as Xola jumped up from her bed and grabbed her showering things.

"Yeah, it's in my bag." Rein nodded.

"Good, cause I wasn't going to waste my time helping you look for it," She kidded, and Xola just rolled her eyes as she entered the bathroom.

After Xola showered, the girls quickly got ready, literally inhaling their breakfast. They went out the door, the other roommates still eating in the living room.

Xola glanced at her schedule and sighed in relief. "Awesome, we have second period together, Physics. The next time we see each other is lunch after 4th period, then its 5th period, Orchestra, then 7th Period, Gym/Study hall, then 8th period, Calculus.''

"Awesome. I'll see you later," Rein called, heading for the stairs.

Xola made her way to room 312, on the third floor. She stepped though the large doorway. It was an ordinary classroom, nothing special. The students were laughing a chattering loudly. As she made her way to the back , she noticed a kid that had black spiky hair and wearing an orange mask. He seemed to be staring at her, or in her general direction.

She sat down in the back, two seats away from the strange masked boy. To her excitement, Genma walked in. He looked around, and his gaze paused at her. He grinned at her, then went over to sit with his buddies.

The bell rang and everyone took their seats. A few moments after the bell rang, a tall man with a beard and a cigarette in his mouth sauntered in.

"Good morning, students, I am Asuma-sensei. I will be your homeroom teacher. I will go over the rules in here, and you must follow them, or else you will be sent out. Understood?"

He took the silence that followed as a yes.

"Good. I see we have a new face in here. Hatake Xola?" He called, staring at the neko-child. She raised her hand, no trace of fear in her face.

"Ah, yes, welcome to the school Xola. You'll meet great people here," He addressed her. "Now. Rule number one: No violence. I refuse to have any fighting in here. Rule Number two: No paper airplanes. A kid got his eye stabbed out by one last year. Rule number three: If you do you work and stay quiet, you will have 30 minutes at the end of class time to talk and have your little discussions. Is that clear?"

Everyone murmured in agreement.

"Good. You may have the entire class time to talk." With that, he sat back at his desk and started to read a book.

The class erupted into excited chatters and murmurs. Xola sat back and doodled on a piece of spare paper.

"HI there, Xola!" A cheerful voice said next to her. She looked to the side. The boy with the mask was sitting next to her in the empty desk. She couldn't see his face, but she imagined it was a look of happiness.

"My name is Tobi! Tobi is a good boy, and Tobi wants to become friend's with Xola!" He continued brightly. How odd, his personality was so similar to hers.

She laughed. "Ok, Tobi. We can be friends."

He clapped his hands. 'He acts like a child, yet it's so funny!' she thought, amused.

"Don't pay any attention to Tobi's ranting," a silky voice said behind her. She turned to see the red-head from the elevator yesterday. "He doesn't really know what he's talking about."

"Is that so..." She trailed off, her face becoming thoughtful.

"I'm Sasori, by the way." He said, holding out his hand. She took it, noticing how soft his hands were for a guy.

"I'm Xola. Well, you would already know that from Asuma-sensei's announcement." he grinned slightly.

"Yeah. I'm kind of surprised you didn't turn red, like other new comers."

"Well, I'm not the type to be embarrassed in front of a bunch of people," She grinned back..

For the rest of the class period, Sasori Tobi and Xola had a very lively conversation, discussing random topics and useless things.. She enjoyed it very much, and was in a very bright mood when she entered physics.

"Kakashi nii-san!" She cried out and skipped to her brother's side. "I didn't know you taught here!"

"Yeah, I've been teaching here for quiet a while." The tall man replied, amused. He was about 6'1'', with white hair that slicked upward. He wore a mask that covered his mouth and nose, and a small patch of hair covered his left eye.

"And you never told me?" Xola accused, narrowing her eyes in a playful way.

"I didn't know you would be transferring here!" He sad defensively, but she could tell he was grinning.

She looked at the door as Rein walked in. She looked absolutely miserable. Her ears were flat against her head and her eyes were a bit darker than usual.

"I'll talk to you after class," Xola smiled at her brother and she and Rein found two empty seats at the back of the room.

"Sooo how was homeroom with Pein?" Xola questioned as the bell rang for class to start.

"Horrible. The teacher absolutely rocks, but I found out that the stupid blonde is in my class. His name is Deidara. Oh gosh," She groaned. "There he is. See him?" She pointed to a boy with long blonde hair in the second row.

"I see him," Xola whispered. She was about to say something else when Kakashi-sensei interrupted.

"Alright class, my name is Kakashi-sensei. Welcome to Physics ll. Rule number one: No yelling. Rule number two: no paper airplanes. Rule number three: No fighting allowed. Follow these rules and if you work, you will pass this class, hopefully with an A." He glanced up at Rein and Xola.

"I see some new faces. My sister Hatake Xola and her friend Amaya," he addressed.

Xola grinned and raised her hand. Rein raised her hand as well. "Call me Rein."

"Very well, Rein. nice to meet the both of you. Let's move on to some Physics. Turn to page 43 in your text books."

That was Rein's cue to zone out.

After a long and boring speech about physics, Kakashi-sensei allowed the class to have the rest of the time to talk.

Rein turned to Xola. ''Anyways! So how was your homeroom class?"

Xola smiled. "It was lots of fun! I made two friends, their names are Tobi and Sasori. Remember the red-head from the elevator?" Rein nodded.

"Yeah, I talked to him. Tobi is a tall kid with black hair and an orange mask. Hyper, talkative, funny. You should meet him. He wants me to sit with him at lunch." She added, looking excited. "You have to meet them."

"I should," Rein murmured, happy to see Xola so elated.

"Did you meet anyone in homeroom?" Xola asked, ears pricking forward.

"Yeah. This crazy guy named Hidan, and a quiet kid named Itachi. They seem pretty cool. Hidan is really religious, and he won't stop pestering me about joining his religion. It's pretty funny," Rein said, grinning.

"That's cool! We should hang out with them after classes," Xola pondered. "It's good to get to know them."

Just as she said that, the bell rang. The class picked up their books and headed out the door, Rein and Xola slowly following.

"Bye, Kakashi nii-san!" Xola waved as she went out the door, Rein pushing her along.

"I'll meet you in the cafeteria!" Xola called out to Rein from the top of the stairs.

"Kay," Rein called back and she disappeared in the crowd.

Third period went by quickly for the two girls as they patiently waited for lunch, talking the entire time in their separate classes.

The lunch bell rang and the entire school swarmed of scurrying kids. Rein sighed as she walked out of her History class.

"Ah, History is such a drag," Hidan complained, walking besides the redhead. "They don't even know what they're talking about!"

"I agree. What's the point of learning History, when we could be using that time to learn something useful, like Martial arts!" Rein threw up her hands to emphasize her point..

"Or a religion class! They need one in this shit bag of a school," Hidan ranted. Rein laughed.

"Of all the things, a religious class? Who would even take it?" She said incredulously.

"I would, fuck you!" He said defensively. Rein had caught on pretty quickly that he had a bad temper, not to mention a bad habit of cursing.

They entered the cafeteria, Rein and Hidan laughing together. Xola spotted them immediately.

"Heyy! Rein! Over here!" She called, waving vigorously. Rein smiled and waved back, heading over to her. Though the orange faced man next to Xola got to Rein first.

"Ehh?!" Rein gasped in shock as Tobi picked her up in a back crushing hug.

"Hi Rein! My name is Tobi! Tobi hopes we can be good friends!" He cheered in her ear.

"Uh-um, Xola," Rein waved her wrist weakly. "Help."

"Jeez, Tobi put her down!" Hidan suddenly said beside me. "Why do you have to be so goddamn annoying all the time?"

Tobi put the dying girl down, and sulked. Xola patted his arm.

"It's alright Tobi, Tobi was just trying to make Rein feel welcome. Tobi is a good boy," Xola said warmly, trying to comfort him. Tobi immediately perked up.

"Oh jeez, don't encourage him. We don't need more of his annoying shit." Hidan said, exasperated. Xola giggled..

"Well, he was just trying to help!" Hidan snorted.

"Trying to break her back is more like it."

"Wait, you know him?" Rein asked, looking up at the tall man.

"Yeah, we're both part of the Student Council, also known as the Akatsuki of the school. We all sit over there.." Hidan explained as he pointed to a far corner in the cafeteria, where a small group of guys were sitting around some tables, laughing. Xola felt excited when she spotted Sasori while Rein's spirit sank as she spotted Deidara.

"Come on, you guys can sit with us," Hidan said suddenly as he took Reins and Xola's arm and started dragging them towards the others, Tobi clinging to Xola's other arm, chattering away.

"Wait, Deidara's over there," Rein protested, tugged at his arm, but he kept on walking.

"What about him?" He questioned.

"He hates me."

Hidan laughed. "Oh him, he's an odd one. Hot-headed bastard, but he's pretty cool if your nice. He's very innocent too, doesn't like the perverted stuff. He even blushes at the word "sex"!"

Rein's face turned red. Oh great... She never really liked those subject's either.

Xola giggled. "Aww, look! Rein's face is red!" Hidan took one look at her, and joined in with Xola's laughter. "Yeah, like that."

"You guys..." Rein murmured, embarrassed when she noticed that some of the Akatsuki people were looking at them.

"What have you got here, Hidan? Some more religious recruits?" A blue, yes blue, man grinned, revealing shockingly sharp teeth.

"Damn you, fish face," Hidan growled at them.. "No, I met this one," Hidan shook Rein slightly, "Rein, in my history and homeroom class. I just met Xola," Hidan pointed to the neko, who was being occupied by Tobi.

"Now, let me introduce them-"

"Noo! Tobi want's to introduce them to the rest of the Student Council!" Tobi cried, jumping up and down. All the boys sighed at once.

"Fine, go on with it then..." Hidan said, shrugging. Tobi laughed in delight and practically skipped over to Xola.

"Neko is Xola! Xola is a good girl!" If any of the boys had blinked they would have missed Tobi's transition over to Rein's side. She jumped slightly when he spoke. "Doggy is Rein! Rein is Tobi's friend!" Rein twitched. Doggy? What the hell?!

He almost danced around the table as he introduced the rest. "Annoyed religious boy is Hidan! Kisame is a fishy!" (he did hand motions to bring out the "fishy" part of it) "Itachi is ssssshhhhh! Quiet! Red hair is Sasori! Blondie is Deidara! Mask man is Kakuzu! And with Tobi, we are Student Council!" Rein had a look of annoyed amazement on her face, but Xola looked downright amused by Tobi's show. Rein let out a light laugh. She knew that Xola and Tobi would be great friends. Tobi finished his routine by grabbing Xola's wrist and leading her to two empty seats and sitting down. Rein looked over the faces of the Student Council. They all looked totally annoyed and rather humiliated by Tobi's show. Hidan face palmed and turned to Rein.

"Well, that was slightly more painful than expected." He pulled out a chair, offering it to her. Rein just looked at him for a second. "Well come on, bitch, sit down." Rein smiled. She sat with a "whatever". He simply shrugged, a smug look on his face, and took the seat next to her. "Oh, and instead of calling ourselves 'the Student Council', we prefer to go by the Akasuki."


	6. Complications, with new challenges

The rest of lunch went very well, the whole group talking and eating. The atmosphere was very different than everywhere else they had been in the school. These guys were nice, welcoming, except for Deidara's attitude towards Rein. The bell rang all too soon and the group stood and began gathering up their trash and belongings. Rein and Xola said goodbye to their new found friends and walked together out of the cafeteria.

The rest of the day went on like before lunch. Meeting teachers, getting lectures, and being told all the rules. Finally the day was over and the girls walked back to the dorms.

"Hey Rein! I got a question!" Xola swung around and began walking backwards to face Rein.

"And your question is?"

"What was your favorite part of today?"

"Do you really need to ask? Orchestra, dummy!" Rein laughed at Xola's dumb question. For as long as Rein could remember she had played the violin, and she loved it. Every chance she got to play it, she would, so obviously the highlight of her day would always be orchestra. "And what about you, dum dum?" Xola smiled and put her hands behind her head.

"I liked lunch!"

"Let me guess... Because you got food, right?" Rein smiled.

"No! Well, yes... but no! It's because of Tobi, Sasori, and the rest of the Student Council! They are so nice!" The sun radiating off Xola's tan made her look even happier than she sounded, if that was possible. Rein swayed her tail back and forth a few times and looked at the clouds.

"Yeah... They were... the Akatsuki...." Rein was lost in thought when she was brought back to the real world by running into a door. She fell back on the ground, clutching her nose. Xola's uncontrollable laughter filled the air.

"And you said walking backwards was dangerous!" She gasped between laughs. "You're the one who runs into glass doors!" Rein scowled for a moment and then laughed with Xola. Xola helped her up and they went to their room.

When they entered, the living area was empty. They had beaten the other girls back. Xola stretched, flopped down on the couch, and yawned. Rein put their bags in a corner and sat down in a chair. When she looked back at Xola, she was curled up into a ball, asleep, hugging a pillow. Her ears were drooped lazily and the tip of her tail twitched from time to time.

Rein sighed and smiled. Lazy cat. She stretched and decided to let Xola sleep until it was time for dinner. After about an hour, Rein got up and walked to their room to look for something to do while Xola slept. As she walked by the door, though, a slip of paper slid in from underneath. She studied it for a moment before picking it up and heading back to her chair.

Rein sat and examined the paper. It was neatly folded and was black wit a red and white cloud on one side. She unfolded it and smiled. Xola would be happy too. It was a formal invitation for Xola and herself to be members of the Akatsuki. There was a catch though. There would be three challenges that they would have to overcome if they wanted in. They were as follows:

1) Fight any of the current members, and win.

2) Pull a good prank on at least 3 seniors simultaneously, and get away with it.

3) Get a teacher recommendation after completing tasks one and two.

Rein's eyes narrowed as she read the last challenge. If they got caught doing either of the other tasks or if they failed on one of them, they were sunk because of the third. There is no way any of the teacher would recommend you for Student Council if you had been in a fight or pulled a prank. Fighting and pranks were the biggest school rules you could break without breaking any laws. Never the less, she smirked. She liked a good challenge, and this would be a hard one to pull off.

On the couch, Xola stirred. She slowly sat up and stretched, yawning in the process. She looked over at Rein and smiled.

"Hiya." She was still sounded half asleep.

"Well, good morning star shine! The Earth says hello!" Rein said, happier than usual. This perked up Xola, and her eyes brightened.

"I'm hungry!" Xola declared. Rein laughed lightly.

"I figured you would be. Only a little while longer until dinner, 'kay?"

"Kay kay! Hey, what's that?" Xola snatched the invitation from Rein and read it quickly. Her ears twitched when she got to the part about the challenges. Her eyes got darker and her face got that truly scary look that gives Rein the creeps. Xola's smile was a kind of twisted smirk that only happened when she got some kind of demented idea. She had come up with a prank.

"Xo, please wipe that creeper grin off your face. You're freakin' me out." Rein said, thoroughly stopping Xola's train of thought. The orange haired girl looked up at her friend and smiled her usual bright smile.

"Heehee, sorry!" She scratched the back of her head. "I got an idea for my prank! It's perfect!"

"I'm sure it is. Your pranks are always way to perfect. It's almost enough to disgust me. Who are you going to fight? I was thinking of fighting Deidara. I'm gonna take that jerk down!" Rein sounded bound and determined to make her threat reality.

"I'm going to fight Kisame." Xola said, all too calmly, even though a smile still shone in her eyes.

"What?! Xola, he is huge! You're going to end up killing yourself!" Rein had noticed how muscular Kisame was at lunch because he had been wearing his athletic uniform, which has no sleeves.

"You'll see. I'll win. Easy. Now!" She slammed her hands onto the coffee table and stood up. "Dinner!" She grabbed Rein's arm and dragged her out the door to the cafeteria.

The duo met up with Genma for dinner. He walked them over to his table for the introductions.

"Hi, Temari!" Xola said enthusiastically when she saw her room mate..

"Hey Xola, Rein." She smiled at them. She was sitting next to a boy who looked very bored and wore his hair in a pony tail. There was also a boy wearing red face paint and had a huge dog sitting next to him. The girl's other room mate, the shy one was there, too. They didn't exactly remember her name. She was sitting next to a blonde boy with spiky hair. A boy with light colored eyes and long dark hair sat across from the quiet girl. There was also a boy who looked like he was related to Itachi. He had black hair and black eyes.

"I see you know Temari, and I assume you know Hinata too." He gestured to each as he said their names. "Pony tail is Shikamaru. He is the laziest genius in the world, and is Temari's boy friend. The long haired guy is Neji. He's Hinata's cousin. Kiba is the guy with the dog. Yellow hair is Naruto, and Mr. Serious is Sasuke. Everyone, this is Rein and Xola." He pulled out a chair. "Xola?"

"Why thank you!" Xola blushed lightly and smiled up at him. She ended up sitting by Kiba and Genma. Rein took a seat by Temari and Sasuke. They all chatted over their dinners and by the time they were done eating, both Xola and Rein had made new friends. Even though Kiba has a dog, he got along great with Xola. They were both very into sports. Rein found that she got along the best with Sasuke. They waved goodbye and began walking back towards the dorms.

They were almost to the door when they noticed Itachi standing in some shadows. Xola blinked curiously at him.

"Rein, Xola? I was sent to get your answer. Do you want to try?" Itachi said to them. The duo nodded. "Okay. Who is it that you will fight?"

"Deidara." Rein said darkly. She wanted to flatten him.

"Kisame." Xola said calmly. Itachi flipped out his phone and quickly text messaged someone, and put his phone away. He proceeded in talking to them, this time a more friendly conversation. A few minutes later his phone buzzed and he looked at it.

"Alright, come on." Itachi was already walking away. Xola shot Rein a look. Rein nodded and began walking after Itachi, Xola at her heels. They walked around in the dark alleys of the school to a field where all the Akatsuki were, with the exception of Kisame and Deidara. "Are you ready?" Xola and Rein nodded. "We will split into two groups to escort you to the places you will be fighting at.. Each location has security staff that will pass about seven minutes after you arrive, so in order to not get caught, you need to be quick. Do you understand?"

"Yep!" Xola sounded confident.

"Get on with it Itachi." Rein wanted to get out there so she could squash Deidara.. The group split. Tobi, Sasori, and Itachi stood by Xola, while Hidan and Kakuzu stood by Rein. Then they went their separate ways.


	7. Fights

Rein was led to the roof of the fine arts building. The flickering light from a broken street lamp revealed Deidara sitting on the far side, smirking. Rein scowled.

"Come on, girlie man. Let's get this over with." Rein said to him. That wiped the smile clean off his face. He stood slowly and took something out of his pocket. Rein saw that it was a white firecracker of some sort. She darted at him, knocking it out of his hand before he could light it. "Jerk, trying to make noise so that security can come and bust me." Deidara lashed out a few punches, but Rein blocked them easily. Frustrated, he threw another one. She perried it and using her weight and the momentum from his punch to land one on him, right in the gut. He gasped for air, and she took the opportunity to land another blow to his face. He did a backwards roll and launched himself at her, tackling her to the ground. He got in a few punches, but Rein flipped backwards and flung him across the rooftop. He slid for about ten feet and off the edge of the building. He grabbed onto the edge of the roof. Rein stood by his hands and looked down on him. She wiped the blood from her face and smirked. "Give up? Or do I need to push you all the way off?" Deidara, barely holding on now, surrendered and was helped off the edge and Rein, Deidara, Hidan, and Kakuzu left, completely unseen.

Xola was lead to one of the small parks on campus. This one in particular was the most forest-like. They walked her into a clearing where the only light was that of the full moon. Kisame stood in the middle of the clearing, his unusually sharp teeth shining from the moon's glow. Xola smiled back at him. He slowly walked forward. Xola walked backwards about ten steps towards the trees. Kisame broke out into a dead sprint. A split second before impact, Xola side stepped, and stuck out her foot, sending him hurdling into a tree. He fell to the ground. He stood up slowly, sand and dirt falling out of his hair and from his clothes. He blinked and looked around. He couldn't see the neko girl anywhere. Xola had snuck up to right under him and hit the bottom of his jaw squarely, sending him into the air. She jumped onto a tree branch and then towards him. When she was above the blue boy, she kicked down, sending him back to the earth like a rock. He landed square on his head, knocking him out cold. Tobi, Itachi, and Sasori stood in shock. Xola had brought down their biggest guy in less than four minutes. Maybe even three. They picked up his limp, bleeding body and led the way back to the other field. Xola, completely unharmed, followed wondering if she over did it. She knew she was fast, but she just didn't believe that he was that slow.

Back at the field, the Akatsuki deliberated over the fights. After a few minutes, they sent Xola and Rein away, so that they could get some rest. The next day was for planning their pranks. Xola already knew hers, so this was a huge deal for Rein. The duo turned and left the field in silence and headed back to the dorms.

They entered their room silently, making little noise as possible. They headed towards their room, when a voice stopped them in their tracks.

"Sneaking around at night, eh?"

Rein and Xola froze and slowly turned around. Ino and Sakura were sitting on the couch. Ino's arms were crossed, a harsh leer on her face while Sakura's face was blank but almost sheepish.

"What were you doing, staying up so late?" Ino continued with the irritating questions.

"Who said that you could make our business yours?" Rein demanded, fully awake now. Xola twitched angrily next to her.

"I did." Ino said haughtily. "We have the right to know, since we were here first."

"Oh, so is that it? Who ever gets here first is the queen of them all?" Xola hissed, her eyes going a shade darker.

"We didn't ask for animals to be in here, especially a cat or a dog!" Ino shouted. Strangely, Sakura continued to remain silent beside her.

"For your information, I'm a wolf, not a dog. And we didn't ask to be roomed with a Barbie figurine," Rein spat back at her. Ino glared.

"Take that back!"

"We won't!" Xola and Rein said at the same time and they began to walk back to their room.

"Oh no you don't!" Ino shrieked as she threw a small knife at them. It hit the wall a few inches in front of Xola's and Rein's faces.

Rein looked at Ino, then at the knife, looking surprised. Xola bared her teeth at Ino.

"Your done for, bitch!" Xola yelled and lunged at Ino. Rein lashed forward with lightning speed and grabbed Xola's waist, tucking her into a full nelson. Xola squirmed and punched at Rein, getting a few successful strikes.

"Stop it, Xola! She's not worth it!" Xola continued her shrieking and struggled even harder.

"Xola!"

"Rein, you lack control. How disappointing," Sakura suddenly said, standing up and looking at them with a look of pride.

Rein bopped the struggling girl on the head. Xola suddenly stopped struggling, shaking her head and blinking, her face turning into the same hard mask when she spotted Ino and Sakura.

Ino suddenly jerked her hand backwards, pulling an invisible string. Rein looked next to her as the knife flashed past her, slicing into her right wolf's ear. She winced as she felt the blood trickle from the wound.

"And YOU need to be put on a leash, doggie." Ino stated, and walked past them into her room, Sakura right behind her.

Rein and Xola sat there for a few minutes, panting and catching their breath. Suddenly, Rein grabbed Xola's arm and pulled her up, dragging her into their room, shutting it behind them.

"Well! That was interesting," Rein commented, examining her ear in the mirror, and wiping blood off her mouth. Xola could really punch hard.

"How can you not be angry? She was totally egging us on!" Xola hissed as she curled under her covers.

"Eh, I don't really care anymore. It's a waste of time." Rein sighed as she turned off the light and fell on her bed.

"Besides, you'll be all happy and smiley by morning, won't you," Rein said, more of a statement than a question.

"Heh heh, your right," Xola giggled. "G'night!"

"Night."


	8. Preparations

Riiiiiiiiiinnnnnngg! Riiiiiiiiiiiiinnnnnngg! Riiiiii-CRASH!

Rein's hand chose the fate of their alarm clock. She sat up, stretching, looking at the broken clock.

"Great, we need a new one," She sighed as she got up. She showered quickly, noticing how it was 8:05 and Xola was still sleeping.

"Xo, hey! Xo! Wake up!" She shook the neko girl until she blinked tiredly at Rein.

"Rein, what the heck are you doing.....? It's Saturday."

Rein stood there, slowly taking those words in. She had gotten up early, for NOTHING?! And her alarm clock…

She fell on the floor in exasperated amazement and groaned into the carpet. Xola just shrugged and went back to sleep.

Rein lay there, laughing at her own stupidity. She knew she wouldn't be able to go back to sleep, so she hopped up, searching for a piece of paper. She wrote a note to Xola. It said:

Xo,

I went to the cafeteria. If I'm not there by the time you wake up, you can come down. I'll probably be talking or something.

Rein

Satisfied with her note, she headed over to the door. The living room and kitchen were deserted; Rein swore she could hear a spider crawling across the floor. She exited the dorm and went down to the cafeteria. A few people were down there, not many. She spotted some of the Akatsuki in their corner; Hidan, Itachi and his little brother, Sasuke, Sasori, and Tobi. Rein bought a muffin and a bottle of milk and went over to them.

"Hey," She greeted.

"Rein!" Hidan patted the chair next to him. The others murmured a good morning and grimaced while Tobi screamed out, "Morning Rein!!!!"

"Nice pajamas," Itachi commented. She looked down and grinned.

"Thanks."

"What happened to your ear? And your face?" Hidan asked, noticing the tear in her right ear and the faint bruises from Xola's punches.

"Oh, this? Well, let's say our roommates weren't in a good mood when we got back last night, and that Xola was up for a little hand-to-hand combat after eating sugar," Rein said, shrugging.

Itachi chuckled. "That sound's like a lot of fun."

"It was LOTS of fun. Hint the sarcasm." Itachi just shook his head while Sasuke smirked.

"So what I was saying about the religion class we should have at this dump," Hidan began, settling back in his chair.

"Oh don't start that again, Hidan," Rein and Itachi said at the same time.

"What is wrong with you all?! You bunch of fucking atheists..." He grumbled the last part. Rein and Itachi were picking on Hidan while Tobi was screeching when Xola walked in, in her pajamas like Rein.

"Morning, you guys!" She said cheerfully, settling herself down next to Sasori and Tobi.

"Good morning, Xola!!" Tobi cried while Sasori smiled slightly.

"Is she always happy like this?" Hidan whispered to Rein as they watched Xola and Tobi carry out an animated conversation.

"Yep. Welcome to my world, I've known her since I was 3. She's actually calmer compared to when she was little," Rein replied thoughtfully, tucking her legs up on the chair.

"Oh god, are you serious?" Hidan stared at Xola, who seemed to act like a 3 year old.

"Believe it. She was a Tobi mini-me, I swear to god."

Just then, Zetsu walked in and sat down next to Itachi.

"Have you all heard? The Akatsuki are getting new dorms on the top level! And if Rein and Xola make the Akatsuki, they can stay there with us!" The lighter side of Zetsu said excitedly.

"**Don't get so excited about it**," The darker side said.

"Really? That's so cool!" Tobi cheered, making everyone wince except for Xola, who cheered with him.

"No more Sakura or Ino!"

"And you get your own rooms! But, since Rein and Xola are like two peas in a pod, and if they make it, they're going to have a door connecting their rooms... That's what the Leader said." Zetsu continued.

"Who's your leader?" Xola asked, curious as always.

"You'll find out if you are initiated." The dark side of Zetsu said, without even a hint of emotion.

"Eh, fair enough." Xola shrugged and turned back to Sasori. Rein blinked twice and smiled. Xola obviously liked Sasori, so they needed to get into the Akatsuki if she wanted a chance with him. She turned towards the table and started thinking of what kind of prank she should do. She grumbled in frustration when she couldn't think of anything right away.

"By the way you two," Itachi began, "Since it's the weekend, you have until the end of school on Tuesday to complete the second challenge." Xola's dark smile came up again, and she chuckled under her breath. More time for preparations only would make her prank easier. Rein sighed in relief. Maybe she would be able to think up something good by then.

Saturday passed and Sunday went by slowly. Xola disappeared most of the day, most likely setting things up for her prank. Rein spent the day hanging out with the Akatsuki and thinking up her prank. She was lying on her bed, staring at the ceiling when Xola strolled in casually, dropped her bag on the floor and flopped on her bed.

"Way to drop your crap right in the middle of the floor, Xo." Rein said, sitting up.

"Eh, I'll pick it up later. What time is it?" Rein turned over and looked at the new alarm clock she had bought.

"9:15. You really pushed the time. What were you doing that took so long?"

"Preparations. It's all set, Rein. It's flawless." Xola smiled, followed closely by a yawn. The neko girl rolled over and curled up, quickly falling asleep.

Rein sighed. She was hopeless, falling asleep so fast. Shrugging, the wolf girl stood and picked up Xola's bag to move it. It was surprisingly heavy, so she took a peek inside. Hidden under her school books was time release invisible paint, chalk colored, gorilla glue, the strongest glue you could easily get your hands on, a hand mirror, make up cases, flash bombs, smoke bombs laced with a drug used to erase short term memories, a cherry jolly rancher, eye drops, and a piece of paper with letters and numbers on it, so it was probably a code for something. Rein stared at the seemingly random objects for a moment before piling everything back into the bag and going to bed.

Monday. Xola woke up, the room still wrapped in darkness. She peered over at the clock, discovering that she had woken up 15 minutes before the alarm was set to go off. She groaned into her pillow. She stretched and stood up slowly. She walked down the hall to the shower, her towel dragging on the floor behind her. She took her time in the shower, letting the hot water and steam give her a nice wake up call. She finished and walked back into the room she shared with Rein just as the alarm went off. Rein moaned and rolled out of bed, and sulked off to the showers. Xola got dressed, did her hair, and made sure she had everything she needed for her day at school. Rein's shower was quick, and she got ready for the day in record time.

"What's with you?" Xola asked her. "You got ready fast today. And it's a Monday. You sick or what?"

Rein whipped her head around and gave Xola a grim smile. "I waited for you to eat dinner yesterday, and you never came back for it. I'm starving."

"Me too! So let's go eat!" Xola grabbed Rein's arm and the girls darted to the cafeteria. They ate with Genma and his friends and went to their individual homerooms. Rein spent her time talking with Hidan about nothing in particular.

Xola sat quietly for awhile. She felt Sasori's worried eyes on her for the first half of class, and Tobi tried his hardest to get her to talk. Then she slammed her hands on her desk.

"Yosh! I'm ready!" She said, a confident smile on her face. Tobi joined in with Xola's celebration even though he didn't know what she was celebrating. Sasori chuckled and tapped Xola's shoulder.

"For what exactly?"

"The second challenge. It's gonna happen after my next period."

"Where is it? I want to be there when you do it."

"TOBI TOO!" Tobi said, popping up between the two. Xola laughed as the bell rang. She draped her arms over the boy's shoulders.

"Kakashi nii-san's Physics II. See you then!" Xola released the guys and walked quickly to class.

"Hi Nii-san!" Xola chirped as she walked in the door.

"Hey, Xo. Hurry up and sit down before the bell now!" Kakashi warned. "Don't wanna have to count you tardy!" Xola turned and stuck her tongue out playfully at her brother and took her seat beside Rein just as the bell rang. The intercom cracked on, making everyone look at the ceiling in surprise.

"Attention students and staff, all of the bottom row windows are now only to be opened in case of emergency. To enforce this, an alarm system has been installed to go off if any are opened, so please use only the upper classroom windows if you want a breeze. Thank you."

Rein looked curiously at Xola. The neko girl smiled at her. The prank was in motion. Class went by like normal with one exception. Notes were copied from the over head rather than the chalk board. Rein knew that Xola's plan was unfolding. Her pranks were always way too complex to understand if you were an average Joe. Most people don't even know what happened until its too late. They just think random events keep on occurring. The bell rang to let out the class. Everyone, including Kakashi, left the room. The teacher locked the door behind him as he left.


	9. The Pranks

"Watch and learn." Xola said in Rein's ear. Rein watched her as she ran up to her brother.

"Kakashi nii-san!" The tall man turned around. "I forgot my physics book in class!"

"You'd better go get it then." There was a smile in his voice as he said this, and he handed her his spare key. "Quickly now! Don't be late to class!" He called over his shoulder as he walked away.

"Thanks, nii-san!" Xola called to her brother as she headed back to the classroom. She saw Sasori and Tobi out of the corner of her eye as she entered the room. She stood on a chair and looked at the clock, then towards the door. Just then, a group of three senior guys walked by. Xola smiled and acted like she was trying to get a book from the top shelf that she obviously couldn't reach. The boys stopped and walked through the door.

"You need some help?" asked one of the guys. All three of the boys were large and muscular.

"Yeah..." Xola said quietly. The boys smiled, and offered Xola a hand to help her off the chair. She took it and 'accidentally' fell off the chair, setting off the flash bombs. The boys were phased and the paint she had put on the chalk board was now visible. Xola quickly took out the mirror and make up. She put purple-brown splotches on her sides, arms and legs, and put jolly rancher in her mouth, turning her teeth and tongue red. She held her breath as she set off the smoke bomb. A few seconds later the smoke cleared and boys saw Xola lying on the floor, mouth blood red. She also appeared bruised. There was graffiti on the chalk boards. They looked at each other then ran to the windows. They tried to open an upper window, but the lock was 'jammed'. Having forgotten the announcement they opened one of the bottom windows, setting off the alarm. Half way out, one of the boys got stuck. Seconds later, Kakashi and several other teachers came in and saw the chaotic scene. Xola was helped to her feet, and taken to the nurses office. They put bruise balm on the spots, and like normal, the 'bruises' healed. She also rinsed the 'blood' out of her mouth. The three seniors got suspended for violence, graffiti, and setting off the alarm system. Xola's plan went off without a hitch.

At lunch, Xola skipped in the lunch room, a happy grin on her face. Rein wasn't at her usual spot and neither was Hidan. Xola figured that she was in the library somewhere.

Xola plopped herself down lightly next to Sasori, who grinned at her immediately.

"Excellent prank back there," He murmured to the neko girl as she sat. "They fell for it big time."

She grinned smugly. "I knew it would. Have you seen Rein? I haven't seen her since biology..."

Sasori shrugged. "Hidan is gone too...... Maybe their studying somewhere..."

"Doubtful," A smooth voice said next to them. They turned to see Deidara glancing at them. "Hidan never studies.. I don't remember the last time he's willingly opened a textbook out of class." He grinned. "He probably got in a fight. Typical of him."

Xola laughed as Sasori acquiesced and they started their lunch. Xola got high fives from all the Akatsuki members, and a pat on the head from Kisame. Tobi hugged the life out of her.

The lunch bell rang and they gathered their stuff up. Rein and Hidan haven't appeared.

"I wonder where they went..." Xola murmured aloud.

"Xola!" She heard Genma's voice behind her. She turned around and beamed.

"Hey Genma!" He caught up with her and they began walking towards their class.

"Have you seen Rein, by chance?" She questioned, looking up at him.

"Hmm," He looked thoughtful. " I saw her walking out the doors with a tall white haired guy after 4th period. I haven't seen her since."

'Is she planning her prank? She better, cause tomorrows the last day....' Xola thought. "Oh well, I guess I'll see her after school." She shrugged and Genma grinned.

"Ready for history?" He joked as they approached the door.

"Your on," Xola mumbled as they walked through the doors.

Meanwhile, Rein and Hidan were speeding down the highway in Hidan's black Porsche.

"You sure this is ok? I'm not sure how we're going to get Losaki back to the school..." Rein said nervously in the dark car.

"Just shut up and concentrate on this..... We don't have much time." Rein knew and was used to Hidan's harshness.

"I'm not even supposed to be helping you, and you need to know what your gonna do with Losaki. Do you have enough money for food and to buy her?"

"Yes, I do. She wasn't very much. And I'm not buying her, just loaning." Rein explained.

"What happens if she gets taken to the shelter?"

" I already spoke to them. I've taken care of it." Rein confirmed. Hidan nodded.

"Good. Now, our only problem is getting Losaki to the school safely. We don't want people seeing her or her getting out. That would be really bad.."

"I think I can take care of that." With that, Rein pulled out her cell phone and dialed a number. She muttered quickly into the phone and hung up.

"That was fast," Hidan commented as they weaved in and out of cars.

She shrugged. She had no patience for short phone calls.. Suddenly her phone buzzed. She looked at it. It was a text message from Xola: 'Where were you at lunch? You missed my awesome prank.' She read. She punched the buttons, replying: 'Sorry, had to pick up something. I might not be there for dinner, so go on without me.' She sent it and got an immediate response: 'K', obviously ending the conversation.

"We're here," Hidan sighed as they pulled into a parking lot. She slipped the phone in her pocket as they climbed out of the car.

"Well hello there!" An old looking lady wearing overalls waddled over to them, wearing a toothy grin. "You here for Losaki? She's back here." With that, she turned and walked to the back of the building. She came back a few seconds later, leading Losaki by a leash.

"Here she is!" The lady pronounced her. Rein studied Losaki up and down and a slow smile spread on her lips. "She's perfect."

At 5:00 am, Tuesday morning, a group full of seniors sauntered back to their room after staying up all night at a bar. They didn't care, they were seniors and they would be graduating soon.

"We better pull out the mints, so they don't catch out beer breath!" One guy laughed. They opened their door and as soon as they walked in a bundle full of hay cascaded down upon them.

'Holy shit, what is this?!" Another guy hollered. They turned towards their rooms and yelled out. A huge cow was grazing in the middle of their room.

They stared at it for a long time while the cow stared back. Then one of the seniors walked towards the cow and looked at the bell that was around its neck. It read: Losaki.

He turned around, a grin on his face. "You thinking what I'm thinking?"

The rest of the boys grinned. "Grab some hay!" Someone said and everyone scrambled for the hay.. "This is going to be the best prank every!" Someone laughed.

They coaxed the cow halfway out the door, two people pushing the cows backside while the other three were luring her out with the hay. Finally, the cow stepped out of the room.

The guy stood triumphant. "Now to the principal's off...." He trailed off, his smug grin gone and now replaced with horror.

There, low and behold, stood the principal, her arms folded and her face quite unhappy.

"U-uh... Principal..." The guy stammered as he backed up, his face white.

"And what about my office?" She said darkly, her eyebrow raised. The guy gulped. A shadow, too dark to be identified, laughed quietly, and slipped out their window.

The seniors were suspended for having a cow in the school building and for sneaking off campus, drinking beer.

Rein wasn't there in the dorm and at biology. Xola walked into lunch, confused but curious about the excitement in the cafeteria.

"What's going on" Xola questioned as she sat down next to Tobi and Sasori, her usual spot. Itachi turned to her.

"This morning, a bunch of guys got caught with a cow in their room, and for sneaking out of their dorm with beer." Itachi stated. Just then, Rein skipped through the door, which was a rare thing for her to do. Hidan was right behind her, both wearing huge grins.

"Rein! Where were you?!" Xola all but roared at her when she sat down between Itachi and Hidan.

"Oh, just a bit of cleaning up," The wolf girl replied, jittery. "I heard about your successful prank.. Nice job!" Rein gave Xola a high five.

"Thanks! Did you hear about the cow this morning?" Rein and Hidan exchanged an amused glance.

"Yeah, we did," Rein said, then busted out laughing, Hidan joining in a few seconds after.

"What? What?" Xola said, anxious. Suddenly she gasped..

"It was you! Was that your prank?!" Rein nodded.

"See, this is how it went down..."

-Flashback-

Rein was hiding behind some trees next to the school grounds. It was around 2:00 pm when she pulled the cow out of the trailer, eyeing some stairs leading up to the fourth floor. It was wide enough to fit the cow up the stairs and into the fourth floor. She had spent the entire day with the cow, staying in her car behind some shops until it was time. She was targeting a particular group of seniors who sneak out of class every now and then to drink beer at a bar downtown.

She turned to the cow and stroked her forehead. "Now, when we go up into the school, you must be very quite," she spoke softly to the cow. The cow seemed to understand enough.

She attached a bucket of hay on the cows back. Gently tugging the cow along, they made their way up the stairs. After a few minutes she was at the door of the fourth floor. She opened it and peeked inside. No one was there. Luckily, tonight was orientation and everyone was in the gyms. She pulled the cow in the door and quickly paced down the halls.

She stopped in front of room 439. She took out a card that belonged to one of the seniors. She had jacked it in gym earlier today. They didn't notice. She opened the door and slipped inside, the cow following her. Dropping the card on the desk, she placed the cow in the middle of the room. She pulled off the leash and bucket, whispering "Stay here." She then opened the window and threw a rope down the building, so she could get out later. She stood on a stool and attached the bucket of hay above the door and tied a rope to it and the ceiling, so that when the door opened, the hay will come cascading down upon them.. Satisfied, she hid behind the couch and waited.

A few hours later, she heard them down the hall. The door opened and one of them yelled. She stifled her laughter.

"You thinking what I'm thinking?" she heard another one say darkly. She chuckled silently, shaking her head. She heard them getting the cow out of the room, and someone said, "Now to the Principal's off..." His voice trailed off. She pricked her ears and caught the principals scent. She laughed silently as she disappeared out the window. Somehow, after she hit the ground, she got the rope out from the window. She hurried back to the front of the school and saw her cow outside with some people. They were talking, their back to the cow. Rein whistled softly. The cow looked at her and walked quickly over to where she was standing.. Patting the cows neck, the wolf girl and the cow disappeared into the night.

-End of flashback-

"And after that, I returned the cow and just slept in my car," Rein finished, shrugging while Hidan laughed to himself.. She even saw Deidara shake a little from where he sat, his back turned to them. She smiled a little, and looked at Xola.

"Well, your prank was easier than mine. Be grateful for that brilliant mind of yours," She teased.

"Oh, don't I know,'' Xola kidded and we all laughed... Sasori's hand brushed hers and she blushed. Rein grinned when she saw that. She knew Xola was going into the Akatsuki, so she and Sasori will get together without a doubt.

The bell rang suddenly and it startled Rein, causing her to spill her milk. She coughed and got up, scratching the back of her head casually and acted as if she never spilled the milk. She glanced behind her just in time to see Deidara slip and fall on the milk.. She turned around, laughing as quietly as she could, listening to Tobi tease him about falling. Xola joined in with Tobi's teasing for a few minutes before Sasori tapped on her shoulder.

"Xola, there is one more thing you and Rein need to do."


	10. Secrets Revealed

"Oh yeah!" She said, snapping her fingers. "We have to get teacher recommendations, right?"

"Yeah, but-" Itachi began.

"There's a catch, right?" Rein said cutting him off.

"Yeah, I guess you could call it that. You have to have it by the end of the day tomorrow on this form." Itachi held up a packet consisting of about 10 pages.

"Are you kidding?! Shit! What teacher in their right mind would willingly fill out a form that is 10 pages long?!" Rein growled.

"Um, I think that's why it's the catch, Rein." Xola said. "We should have known that it wouldn't be straight forward. None of the other challenges were, so why would this one be? So let's get going! We got to get these things filled out!" Xola snatched one of the forms from Itachi and started walking away. Rein let out a small laugh and shook her head.

"Hey, wait up!" She took the other form from Itachi and ran after the neko girl. Itachi looked after the duo and actually smiled. Sasori walked to his side.

"They certainly are different, aren't they?" Itachi said to the red head. He smiled and looked at the ground before speaking.

"Eh, different is good. I like different."

"I can tell." Itachi patted his friend's shoulder. "The only one who can't is probably the different one herself."

"WHAAAAAT?! SASORI LIKES XOLA?!" Tobi yelled into the boy's ears.

"Isn't it fucking obvious? Every time the chick is around, Sasori is always next to her." Hidan said, annoyance written all over his face. "Geez Tobi, you aren't worth shit when it comes to brains!"

"Hidan, that's not nice!" Tobi whined. "Don't be mean to Tobi! Tobi is a good boy!"

"Shut up, baka." Deidara said, pushing the boy out of the way. "So Sasori, what you gonna do about your girl, huh?"

"Oh come on guys-" Sasori started, beginning to walk away.

"Dude! We all know you want to ask her out! It's so obvious!" Kisame shoved his way into the group. "Don't tell me you're scared." He flashed a grin. Sasori stopped in his tracks.

"I'm not scared, Kisame. I'm waiting for the right time."

"You're waiting for her to become one of us, aren't you?" Kakuzu said from the back. Sasori glared at him.

"Maybe."

"That would explain your grumpiness lately." Deidara said, getting a smug look on his face. "You're the only one who objected to the extension on the prank dead line! Not to mention the fact that you reminded them that they needed to get a recommendation! You're waiting for her, and you're the most impatient person on the planet." Sasori glared at the blonde for letting out his secret. His angry thoughts were interrupted by Tobi's wild laughter.

"Sasori is blushing!"

"Tch..." Sasori looked at the floor and shoved his hands into his pockets. Deidara opened his mouth to say something else, but the red head cut him off. "Don't you say another word, Deidara, or so help me I will tell them-"

"No no no! That won't be necessary! You wouldn't do that, would you?" The blonde was nervous now. He didn't want the rest of the group to know his secret. He knew they wouldn't let it go for a long time, and he didn't want to endure it.

"Deidara has a secret too? Tobi wants to know! Tell Tobi! Tobi is a good boy!" The masked boy begged. Sasori started to walk towards the door before turning back for just enough time to say:

"Deidara has a thing for Rein." Sasori smirked and ran out the door, Deidara running after him, screaming in rage. The rest of the boys were put into wild fits of laughter.

Xola skipped into her brother's classroom, Rein at her heels.

"Hi nii-san!" Xola said cheerfully.

"Hey, Kakashi-sensei." Rein said

"Why hello there, Rein, Xola." He said, a confusion in his voice. "Aren't you supposed to be in class?" Xola glanced at Rein ever so slightly.

"We were excused due to certain requests." Rein said, sounding bored.

"And those requests were?" Kakashi was suspicious now.

"Xola wanted to ask you a question, and I need to talk to Pein-sensei." Kakashi looked at Xola.

"Go on now, Xo. What's up?"

"Nii-san?" Xola looked slightly nervous. She didn't much like asking questions. She was more of a just-do-it person.

"Spit it out, Xola." Kakashi kidded, a smile in his voice.

"I want to be in the Aka-... the Student Council..." She looked down at the floor and kicked the air a few times before holding out the form to her brother. "Will you fill out this teacher recommendation form for me, please?"

"Oh, really? That is a very good idea Xola! I'll be happy to fill out the form for you! When do you need it by?" The smile was apparent in his voice as he took the form from his sister.

"I have to turn it in by the end of school tomorrow." Xola said, all nerves gone.

"I'll get it to you by the end of school today. How does that sound?" Xola looked shocked for a moment. It all evaporated, and she hugged her brother tightly.

"You're the best nii-san!" She let her captive go, and she and her friend ran towards the door. "I'll be back later to pick it up! Bye, Kakashi nii-san!" Then the girls were gone. Kakashi looked at the now empty doorway, then turned back to the packet.

"Better get to work." He sighed, picked up his pen, and began to fill out the form.

Rein knocked on Pein's door before walking in. Pein was at the chalk board, writing. A moment later he turned around to face the girls.

"Hello, Rein. Can I help you?" His face was blank of expression.

"Hello Pein-sensei. I was wondering if you would fill out my teacher recommendation form for the Student Council."

"You." He said to Xola. "Are you a member of the Student Council?"

"Um, no sir, but my recommendation form is being filled out as we speak." Xola said confidently. She didn't want to jeopardize Rein's getting into the Akatsuki.

"Who is filling out your form?"

"Kakashi nii-san."

"Ah, so you must be his younger sister that I have heard so much about. Rein," He turned back to the wolf girl. "When will you need it by?"

"The end of the day tomorrow." Rein replied.

"When is Kakashi giving you yours?" He asked Xola.

"I'm picking it up after school today sir."

"Very well. Rein, the form?" He held out his hand. Rein gave it to him shortly after. "I'll have it done by the end of school today."

"Thank you, Pein-sensei!" Rein said before leading Xola out of the room and into the hall.

The rest of the day dragged on until the last bell. The girls picked up the completed recommendation forms and gave them to Itachi on their way back to their dorm room. They were almost to the building when Xola turn the corner to go towards the athletic building.

"Xo, where ya going'?" Rein asked her, thoroughly confused.

"I told Kiba, Naruto, and Temari that I'd play some basketball with them today after classes. I'll meet you at the cafeteria, ok?"

"Ok, see you there. And don't you be late, got that?" Rein called after her friend. Xola just gave her a thumbs up without even turning around. Rein sighed, and went to the room. She spent her free time practicing her violin with some orchestra mates, then drawing and listening to her iTouch. When the time came for dinner, she dragged herself out of the room to the cafeteria. Xola was already there, sitting next to Kiba and Genma at their table. Xola immediately saw the wolf girl when she walked in and she waved.

"I see you've started without me." Rein said, seeing how Xola had four pieces of pizza sitting in front of her.

"Oh chill out, two of these are for you. See? I got you cheese and meat lovers for me!" Xola said, motioning to the open seat by Sasuke. "Now sit down already!" Rein made her way to the open seat. Over their dinner, Rein had a conversation about school and other random topics with Sasuke while Xola gave Genma the highlight of the basketball game to Genma, with input from Kiba. After dinner, the girls when back to their dorm, showered and listened to music until about 11 when they fell asleep.


	11. Bitter sweet initiation

Xola felt a warm hand on her shoulder. She opened her eyes to see Sasori's face looking at her.

"Wake up, Xola. We need you to come with us." He whispered in her ear. The neko girl blushed lightly and stood up. She saw Hidan standing next to Rein's bed.

"Good, you're up and about." He said, getting a grin on his face. "Now I can get on with my business." He turned to Rein and lifted her wolf ear. He leaned in until he was very close and drew in a large breath. "RRRRREEEEEEEIIIIIINNN!!!!! WAKEY WAKEY! TIME TO GET UP!" Rein screamed and fell out of her bed.

"WHAT THE HECK, HIDAN?!" She shrieked back at him.

"Hey, I had to get you up some how!" He said, laughing. "Now come on, and lets get this done, so that sleeping beauty here can get back to bed." He said, leading the way out the door, down the hall, to the boy's half of the floor. They quartet entered a room that was lit by candles along the walls. All of the Akatsuki were there. They all wore different styles of jacket, though they were all black with the Akatsuki cloud on the back.

"Rein, Xola," Itachi said, stepping forward. "We are pleased to inform you tha-"

"Cut the shit, Itachi! Just tell them already, without all this fucking formal crap! Dammit!" Hidan spat. Rein and Xola stifled a laugh. Sasori put his hand on Xola's shoulder.

"Welcome to the club, Xo." He said with a gentle smile.

"You too, bitch!" said Hidan, putting his arm over her shoulders. Rein punched him playfully, letting him know to let go of her.

"You mean-?" Xola started.

"You are officially members of the Akatsuki." Itachi finally finished.

"YAAAAAY!" Tobi tackled Xola in a hug. "Tobi knew Xola would make it! Xola is a good girl!" Xola laughed.

"Since you're in, you get jackets and rings," Kakuzu said unenthusiastically. "Deidara, give them the boxes." Deidara did as he was told.

"Sorry to keep things short, but its three in the morning, I'm tired, and I want to go to bed." He said walking out the door. "See you kids tomorrow.." Slowly the other members followed his lead and went back to their rooms. Sasori walked the girls to their room before going to bed himself. In the room Xola opened up the box that contained her jacket. It was a long black coat that buttoned down to the waist, but was about to her knees in total length.

"I like the cloud on the back. It's a nice touch." Xola said smiling. Rein was quiet as she observed her jacket. It was also knee length, totally black except for the cloud in the back and front. It was very smooth, and even had a hidden hood.

"Hey, lookie lookie!" Xola exclaimed, pulling out a small bag that held her ring. It was silver, with a red and black circle at the center of it. Rein fished around her box and found hers. It was the same shape and still silver, but the center was maroon and white.

"Hmm," Rein got a thoughtful look in her eye and she went into the bathroom. Xola looked curiously after her but she shrugged. Yawning, she picked up her jacket and hung it up in the closet, next to her row of clothing.

Xola jumped when Rein gave a loud, "Ouch!" "Hey, what are you doing in there?"

"Just gimme a sec... oh fuck, ow." The wolf girl replied weakly.

Xola laughed. "Hidan's really rubbing off on you. Maybe you should stay away."

"He's my best friend! That kind of stuff was bound to rub off sometime," Rein protested back, her voice stronger.

"Done!" She said as she walked back in the room. On her scarred right ear, she had bent the ring open and pierced it through. There was still blood, but Rein dabbed it up. She grinned. "Whadd'ya think?"

"Interesting," Xola nodded. "Doesn't it hurt?"

Rein waved that off. "Nah, I'll get used to it. As long as no one tries to pull it out, I'm fine."

Xola chuckled, then yawned. "I'm dead. Night." With that said, she fell on the bed and was out. Rein shook her head and flicked off the lights, crawling into her covers afterwards.

The next morning was horrible. Because of last night's events, the girls woke up late. They hurried through the shower and breakfast, and was sprinting towards their first period.

The day dragged on, and finally lunch came around. Xola, as usual, was already over the morning trauma and was her usual happy-go-lucky self. Rein, on the other hand, was still on that. She dragged into the cafeteria while Xola skipped merrily towards the table.

"Hey, guys!" Xola said happily as she sat down with her sandwich. Rein came padding after her with a carton of milk.

"Hey there Xo" Sasori greeted. Xola's stomach fluttered. She really liked it when he called her by her nickname.

Sasori watched Xola's cheeks turn red and his heart twisted in a painful but pleasing way. He sucked in a breath. It was now or never. Before he had a chance to open his mouth, he was interrupted by Hidan's questions to Rein.

"What's that on your ear, Rein?" Hidan asked, touching her ear lightly. She cocked her head.

"Oh, I don't really like wearing rings, so I decided to make it an earring." She explained, fiddling with it. It was a swollen bright red, a strange contrast to her maroon fur on her ear.

"Jeez, what did you do? It's infected. Did you just stab it through without anything?" Hidan demanded. Even Deidara looked over in curiosity.

"Yeah, we don't have any alcohol, so I couldn't treat it or anything. It'll pass," She waved her hand, dismissing and ending the conversation.

They spent the rest of the lunch, talking about random topics and school and work. Sasori nearly chewed his lip off, trying to decide whether he should do it. Deidara told him to get a grip and stop destroying his lower lip and Sasori just snapped back at him. The bell finally rang and they got up to throw away their things. Sasori had finally gathered his courage. Sasori was about to call her name, but was interrupted yet again.

"Hey, Xola?" Genma asked, seeming uncertain. "Can I talk to you?"

"Sure! I'll see you later, Sasori?" She said, turning to him a slight smile on her face.

"Um, yeah, sure." The red head replied, disappointed. He walked away, looking back only once.

"What's up, Genma?" She asked as they made their way towards the cafeteria doors.

Genma stopped, making Xola stop and look at him. "Is something wrong, Genma?"

"Well, Xola, I was wondering if you wanted to go steady with me." (in Japan, they don't say "will you go out with me, they say, will you go steady with me, and that stuff lol)

Xola blinked in surprise. Her, go with Genma? Well, they were really good friends, and she liked him a lot, so why not?

"Sure, I'll go steady!" She smiled brightly at him.

His face broke into a grin. "That's great!" He said, hugging her. She smiled into his warm chest, hoping that she did the right thing.

Genma pulled away. "We better hurry or we're going to be late!"

At this point, it didn't matter to Xola if she was late, but they hurried to history anyways.

About an hour after school let out, Xola wasn't in the dorm as she usually would be. Confused and curious, Rein paced their room. Where could she have gone? Did she get lost? Or was she with Sasori?

Rein's tail wagged at the thought. They need to get together soon, or Rein would have a fit.

Rein's impatience got the best of her. She put on her shoes and with a quick check in the mirror, she headed out the door.

She decided to go to the athletic wing of the school, since she was always there. Not wanting to go in the elevator, she decided to take the stairs.

"Rein!" She heard a voice behind her. She was at the top step, and was about to descend. She turned around to see Hidan running down the hall, waving at her.

"Got some news," He said as soon as he caught up to her. "This weekend, you and Xola will pack and move your stuff to your new room by Sunday. We'll help, if it's needed," He added, shifting his weight.

"We won't be needing help, but thanks anyways. And we'll be ready by Saturday." Rein informed him, smiling. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have to find Xola." She turned to the stairs, but she had forgotten how close to the stairs she already was.

Not good.

She lost her footing and crashed into someone ascending the stairs. They tumbled down the long flight of steps and Rein landed hard on her back, the person she ran into on top of her.

"Gee, I'm sorry, I was so clumsy, and-" She was cut off when she realized who it was. Deidara's astounded eyes met hers.

"D-deidara?!" She half shrieked, then blushed furiously. "I-I'm really sorry!"

Deidara blinked, then realizing that he was on top of her, he scrambled to his feet, face red as a tomato and with a mumbled, "Sorry," He sprinted up the stairs and made a beeline for his room.

Rein sat their, rubbing her sore head when she realized that Hidan was laughing. He was bent double, gripping the railing for support, and tears streaming down his face.

"Oh wow, that's the best shit I've seen in a long time," He managed to say between his laughter. "You should've seen your face!" He busted into another fit of laughter.

"Thanks so much, your a big support," Rein muttered as she pulled herself to her feet, really feeling the pain in her back and backside where she landed with Deidara's added weight.

"I'll see you around," Rein called to the laughing figure as she carefully descended the rest of the stairs.

Surprisingly, Xola wasn't at the gym, nor the orchestra room or cafeteria. Rein soon forgot about the incident earlier as she worried for her friend. She managed to catch Sasori on the way up to his room.

"Hey, have you seen Xo?" The wolf girl asked anxiously.

The redhead shook his head. "I haven't seen her since lunch," He said sullenly. Rein caught his shirt sleeve when he tried to go back into the elevator.

"Hey, you alright? You seem down..."

"I'm fine." He answered, short and harsh. Rein flinched back. "Alright, sorry..."

The elevator doors closed and she turned around when an idea hit her. She could've just texted her! Rein was astounded by her stupidity. Pulling out her phone, she quickly texted the neko and got an immediate response: "Meet me in the orchestra hall ASAP."

Strange, Xola never used the acronym "ASAP" before. This must be big.

Rein was in the Orchestra Hall in no time. Xola was already there, pacing off her excitement.

"Xo! Where have you been? You had me worried! I went through a lot of trauma, so you better have a good excuse." Rein growled at her.

"Rein, I'm going with Genma now!" She squealed and hugged Rein. "I'm so happy right now!"

As the girls shared their excitement, Sasori slipped away in the shadows.


	12. Movin' In

RIIIIING!  
"SHUT UP YOU FREAKING-"  
"Xola, wake up all the way before you start shouting at technology." Rein cut Xola off.  
"But its Saturday..." Xola whined. "I wanna sleep!" She put her pillow over her head and groaned. Rein got up from her bed and ripped the blanket off of Xola. The neko gave her a nasty glare before stretching. "That was just cruel."  
"You should be thanking me you ungrateful cat. I could have just let you fall back asleep and let Genma come in to see you looking like a mess." She smirked. Xola's eyes widened.  
"You wouldn't have done that!" She accused.  
"Yeah. You're right. Hence the snatching of the blanket." Xola laughed at the red head's remark.  
"Fine fine, you got me there, pup, but I'll get you next time!"  
"Riiiight." Rein said sarcastically, rolling her eyes. "Hurry up and shower before your little boyfriend shows up." Xola hopped up, grabbed her things, and headed towards the bathroom.  
Rein sighed. Good thing I showered last night, or else she would have never gotten up. She though. She shrugged and commenced to change into her weekend attire. She was running her brush through her hair, when Xola returned to the room. She was in her casual weekend clothes and she had pulled her hair back into a ponytail.  
"Reeeeiiin! You ready to move?" Xola said, throwing her pajamas on her bed.  
"For sure! I can't wait to see what it looks like up the-" She was cut short by a knock on the door.  
Xola skipped over to the door and opened it, revealing Genma.  
"Hey Genma!" The neko exclaimed, hugging him.  
"Hey Xo. I'm all ready to help you change rooms." He said smiling. Xola moved over to her drawers and began packing. "Where is your new room anyway?"  
"The top floor." Rein said over her shoulder.  
"Isn't that where the Akatsuki's new rooms are? How'd you get a room up there?" Genma asked, a surprised expression on his face. Xola held out her hand to show him her ring. "You're a member of the Akatsuki?"  
"Uh huh! We just got in a few days ago, so now we get to move into our new rooms upstairs!" Xola said, throwing a few more things into her bag.  
"Xo, you ready?" Rein said, zipping up her bag.  
"Not quite. If you're ready, go ahead and go. I'll meet you up there."  
" 'Kay." The wolf girl shrugged, picked up her bag, and walked out the door. As soon as the door was closed, Genma walked over to the neko and began to help her put her things into the bag.  
"Xola, I don't know if I can go up there with you. Those guys don't exactly take too kindly to-"  
"Oh please, Genma." Xola cut him off. "These guys are some of the nicest people I've met in my whole life. I'm sure they won't mind if you go up there."  
"I don't know. I've seen them around. They aren't very friendly toward people who aren't in Student Council."  
"Have you ever tried to talk to one of them before?" Xola stopped and gave him a questioning glare.  
"Well no, but-"  
"But nothing, mister." She closed her bag and zipped it up. Just then, a single knock was heard from the door. "Come on in!" Sasori opened the door and took a step inside.  
"Hey Xo, you need any-" He cut himself short. "Who's that?" His eyes narrowed. What is he doing in here? Sasori thought grimly.  
"Sasori!" She chirped as soon as she realized who it was. "Perfect timing! I just got done packing, and was about to head upstairs." An awkward silence filled the room. The two boys gave one another a stare down. Xola's smile dissipated. "What's wrong?"  
"Is this guy a member of the Akatsuki, too?" Genma said, noticing his ring.  
"Yeah... Do you guys not know each other?" Xola looked confused. Sasori sighed.  
"Do you not remember me asking you who he was?"  
"Nuh uh. Oh well. Genma, this is Sasori. He is one of my best friends. Sasori, this is Genma my-"  
"Her boyfriend." Genma said, putting a protective arm over Xola's shoulders. He glared at the red head. Xola just sat there with a confused smile on her face as the boys had another stare down. Sasori picked up Xola's bag.  
"Come on, Xo, let's get you upstairs and unpacked."  
"Okay! Come on Genma!" She said hopping to her feet.  
"Oh, I forgot that I have to do a... uhm... project... with Naruto and Kiba. Yeah, so I'll see you later, okay?" Genma managed to stutter out.  
"Oh... okay then. See you later!" The orange haired girl hugged him and he left the room, and the tense atmosphere dissipated. Sasori held out his arm and smiled.  
"Shall we?" The neko took his arm and smiled back to the red head.  
"We shall!" With that, the two walked to the elevator and went upstairs to the new rooms.


	13. Realization

Meanwhile, Rein was upstairs standing in front of the door to her new room. She pulled the key out of her pocket and unlocked the door. Inside, she found a very nice room. It was pretty large, with tall windows in the back and a glass door that opened to reveal a spacious balcony that faced the forest and that had a view of the moon. There was a door right next to the front door that led to Xola's room. The room contained a small living room, big enough to hold three couches and a kitchen, her room and a spare room, and a fairly sized bathroom. The wall colors were indigo blue. Her room contained a bed, a large desk, and a dresser.  
"Not bad." The wolf girl said, putting her bag on the bed. Her ears twitched when she heard footsteps headed in her direction and a familiar scent that made the hairs on her tail stand up. She turned around to find Deidara leaning on the wall just inside the door.  
"Can I help you?" The red head asked her visitor with a doubtful tone.  
"Geez, what's with the tone?" He retorted. "I didn't come down here to fight with you. I came to talk." Rein narrowed her eyes.  
"Go on."  
"I wanted to apologize for the way I acted when you first came here and for running into you on the stairs." The wolf girl looked at Deidara in utter shock. She had not expected this. Then she rolled her eyes.  
"Wait, did the others-"  
"No, the guys didn't bribe me, or tell me to, or anything like that." Upon hearing this, Rein was completely confused. The whole time she had been at this school, not once had Deidara said anything nice to anyone but the other Student Council boys. She grinned.  
"Wow Deidara, you really do have a heart." She said playfully.  
"How about I help you unpack, yeah? To make up all the mean things I said," He added jokingly, gesturing to the bag. Rein shook her head.  
"Okay." The blonde entered the room and began helping her unpack.  
"Ah!" Rein sighed about 20 minutes later. She and Deidara had unpacked and everything was in order. She stretched, then sighed again. Deidara looked at her curiously. "All that's left is for me to explain to Sakura and Ino about the new rooms. I'll probably get a few new bruises, but I don't mind. Maybe I can get a few good punches in while I can."  
Deidara just shook his head. "Maybe you should try being nice to her, hmm. She's not too bad."  
Rein looked at him, a questioning look on her face. Deidara sighed and his face took on a shade of red.  
"In our first year of High School, we went out for a while. She was really nice, but when we broke up, she turned out to be a bitch."  
Rein nodded slowly. "I see. Maybe the break up turned her around?"  
"Possibly. I don't know, we were going pretty well, but then I felt uneasy about our relationship and I ended it and she yelled at me and cried, but after a week she got over it. Though after that I tried talking to her but she refused to talk to me." Deidara shrugged.  
"She must've been really hurt..." Rein pondered.  
Deidara nodded and silence filled the room.  
"We better go check on Xola." Rein said suddenly.  
"Hm?" Deidara replied quizzically.  
"She's having some boy drama," Rein rolled her eyes. "And it wouldn't be good if she got punched or hit or insulted. I have to be there as her punching bag," Rein added playfully.  
Deidara chuckled. "Alright, hmm." With that being said, they left Rein's room and went next door to Xola's room. She was about to knock but stopped when they heard voices. Rein put her finger to her lips and she rested her ear on the door. Deidara did the same.  
"Man I have a lot of stuff." She heard Xola's voice. "Could you stick that right over there?"  
"Yeah," came a deeper voice. Sasori, Deidara realized.  
"So what's up with you and Genma? There was a total stare down back in my old room." Xola asked playfully.  
Sasori was silent. Deidara and Rein glanced at each other. Deidara understood the situation immediately. They both knew Sasori had a thing for Xola, and that he was majorly jealous and angry at himself for not asking her sooner.  
"A childhood thing," He finally said. Deidara and Rein knew immediately that that was a lie.  
"Oh, so you two don't get along?" There was a hint of sadness in the neko's voice.  
"Not really..." Sasori sighed. Deidara and Rein leaned away from the door. They knew when to stop eavesdropping.  
"I'm going to head back to my room, hmm. I still need to switch rooms." Deidara said as they headed for the stairs.  
"Oh, where is your room?" Rein asked.  
"Right across from yours. Hidan's is right next to mine and Sasori's is across from Xola's."  
Rein nodded. "Do you need help moving?"  
"Nah, I'll be fine, hmm. I'll let you face Ino alone," Deidara teased.  
Rein rolled her eyes. "Thanks," She said sarcastically.  
He laughed. "See you later." Waving, the blonde headed towards the end of the hallway.  
Rein went down the stairs, over to her room and slid the card in the slot. The light turned green and she opened the door. Sakura, Temari and Hinata were sitting on the couches.  
"Hello," The red head greeted politely. Temari gave her usual "hey" and Hinata shyly said hi. Sakura said nothing.  
"I just wanted to let you guys know that Xola and I have new rooms, since we made it into the student council," Rein informed.  
"Oh really? Congrats," Temari said, grinning. Hinata repeated the gesture.  
"Oh don't get so smug about it," Said an irritatingly familiar voice behind Rein.  
The surprised wolf girl turned around. Ino was standing there, leaning against the wall, a scowl set on her features.  
"Don't start acting as if your special for getting into the Student Council. Everyone's had a chance to try out before, but it was against the leader back then. Now you had to face the weaker members. If they would let all of us have a second chance, most of us would get permitted."  
"I wasn't getting smug!" Rein shot back. "Just keep your mouth shut."  
I've had enough of you!" Ino yelled.  
"Just because you got hurt from a long time ago," Ino flinched at the wolfling's words. "Doesn't mean you have to hang onto that anger and take it out on everyone else!" Rein finished.  
Ino's face was truly one of surprise, hurt, and realization. Rein's words had struck home.  
"You can't keep dwelling in the past, Ino. I know you're a really nice person. Just let it go," Rein said calmly. Ino just kept staring at her.  
Rein gave her a small smile and walked out the door.  
Ino stood there, her emotions changing rapidly from hurt, nostalgia, then anger, then sadness, then more hurt. Most of all, she realized how she was acting all these years since the break up.  
"Ino...?" Sakura asked, going to the blond's side.  
"She's right, Sakura. I have to let go," Ino smiled slightly. She had finally found the source of her endless supply of anger. Then she laughed.  
"Let's go get something to eat!" Sakura grinned.  
"Okay!"


	14. Home Sweet Home?

Rein ran up the stairs and to the top floor. She entered her new room quickly and went out to her balcony. She plopped down on a chair and sighed. She didn't know what she did was right or wrong. Would Ino change, and realize her past and become a better person? Or would she get more of her Ino-followers and gang up on her?  
Rein shook her head and stood up. "I'd better see how Xola's doing. If she's not out with Genma," She added dryly.  
The red-head walked back inside and stood in front of the door connecting the two rooms. It was pretty well hidden, covered with some paintings of the ocean. Hidan had told her that she just had to push the door twice and it would pop open.  
She followed his instructions. The door popped open to reveal a very short passage way. A bit nervous, Rein walked through the passage way to the other side. She pushed the wall and it popped open. She stepped through it and blinked. Xola's room was similar to hers, huge in size and in splendor. Right inside there was a large living room that housed a flat screen TV that took up almost the entire wall and a gigantic couch with foot rests sat across from it. The connection to Rein's room was on the far side of the TV. There was a half wall between the back of the couch and the kitchen. A door at the back led to the small guest room. In the back of the room there were large sliding glass panels leading to a small balcony that had a ladder that led to the roof. Also at the back was the door to the neko's room, which held a bed with a canopy, a desk, and a dresser. There was also a connected bathroom with a whirlpool tub. Everything was colored in gold, silver, or a mixture of the two.  
At the back of the room, Xola was bent over a box full of her books. She looked up when Rein came in.  
"Rein! What's up? I'm almost done unpacking. Wow, I have a lot of stuff. Are you almost done Sasori?"  
"Yeah, I'll be there in a few," came his distant voice. Rein's eyebrows shot up. Sasori's still here? Rein shifted her curious gaze to Xola, who shrugged sheepishly.  
A few minutes later Sasori came out of the back room. He was wearing a short sleeved black shirt and black capris.  
"All done?" Xola smiled at the red headed boy.  
"Yeah, finally. Has anyone told you that you have too much stuff?" He gave her a teasing look.  
"I make sure to remind her frequently." Rein answered for the neko girl. "What did she make you do anyway?"  
"Hang pictures, organize books, and hook up the TV. Nothing too bad." He shrugged.  
"How did I get all this fancy built in stuff anyway?" Xola turned to Sasori with a questioning glance. A red flush came to the red head's face.  
"House warming presents...?" He showed a small smile.  
"You got me all this huge fancy stuff just as a house warming present? How did you pay for all this? Let me at least pay you back!" Xola yelled in disbelief as she tugged on Sasori's sleeve. Sasori laughed. Rein's jaw dropped. The wolf girl looked at Sasori then at the TV the back at Sasori.  
"No, I wanted to get it for you. Don't be silly."  
"How in the world did you pay for all this?" Xola shouted at him. "At least let me pay for part of it!"  
"No. And I sold some of my art. I was planning on selling it anyway. I got more money than I needed, so I got the TV. It didn't fit in my room, so I put it in here. Plus, you have way more movies than I do. You also have several game systems, so you were the obvious choice to get it." Xola just stared up at him with wide eyes.  
"You sold your art? You mean like your sculptures and your paintings and stuff?" Rein asked him for the still frozen Xola.  
"Yeah. Didn't Deidara tell you that he got you those nice chairs for your balcony? And that he and Hidan painted your room?"  
"No, they didn't tell me." She looked down at the floor. They really did that for me? I know they're my friends and all, but they didn't need to do that for me! Rein thought. She opened her mouth to say what she just thought, but just then there came a knock on the door. Xola's ears twitched and she went and opened the door. In the hall stood a very annoyed Itachi and a frustrated Genma.  
"Did you loose this?" Itachi said, gesturing to Genma. Xola got a stupid looking smile on her face.  
"Oh, Itachi, Genma, come in..." She opened the door widely, allowing entry into her room. Sasori stiffened and Rein just stood there looking confused.  
"What are you doing up here?" Sasori questioned, narrowing his eyes.  
"I caught this punk leaning up against Xola's door, no doubt eaves dropping. I recognized him as her boyfriend, so I thought I would lead the lost dog back to his master." Itachi explained as he walked across the room and stood by the neko girl. "No offense." He whispered in her ear. She giggled. Genma glared first at Itachi and then at Sasori.  
"Xola, what is he doing in here?" Genma gestured towards the red headed boy.


	15. Resolved Emotions

"I'm just gonna..." Rein started heading towards the connection to her room. Sasori looked at Rein, silently asking her if he could go with her to her room. The wolfling nodded and they left the room silently. Itachi patted the neko on her shoulder to let her know that he too would make his leave. Now only Genma and Xola were in the room.  
Meanwhile, Rein and Sasori were in the wolf girl's room.  
"Why did you want to come in here? Why didn't you go to your own room?" Rein asked.  
"I want to stay close. Just in case," Sasori said, never taking his eyes off the door.  
"Your room is right next door to hers."  
"There isn't a connection between mine and Xola's rooms."  
"Mm." Rein nodded. She too looked at the door. She noticed something on the wall. A communication box. She walked over and examined it closer. There was a small microphone, a speaker, and buttons with numbers one to thirteen on them. Number 7 was a different color indicating that it was her room number.  
"What number is Xola's room?"  
"Five." Rein pushed down the button and voices filled the room. They belonged to Xola and Genma.  
Rein and Sasori looked at each other and at the same time they put their ear to the speaker.  
"So how are you Gen-kun?" Rein wrinkled her nose while Sasori just shook his head.  
"I'm quite fine, thank you," His voice had a strange edge to it, uncomfortable somehow.  
"Are you sure? You seem tense.."  
"Do you really like me Xola?"  
There was an uncomfortable silence before Xola spoke in a soft but bewildered voice.  
"What are you talking about? Of course I do!"  
"Then why do you spend so much time with the red head?"  
"Rein? She's my best friend! Why wouldn't I spend time with her?"  
Now it was Rein's turn to shake her head. Xola was so slow sometimes. Was she too distracted by Genma to notice Sasori's hair was also red? And that he was the reason why Genma was acting this way? Because he was jealous!  
"No, not Rein! I don't care about yours and her time together. I meant Sasori."  
Rein could almost feel Xola snap to reality. Sasori's face was paler than usual and he was biting his lip.  
"Well, he's my friend too, and-"  
"It sure doesn't look like it." Genma's hurt voice cut her off.  
"But I don't like him or anything! He's just one of my friends!" Xola sounded confused now.  
"I know that, but I just don't think you should hang around him so often, because," He paused. Rein could just hear him chewing on his lip.  
"Because..." Xola encouraged.  
"Because I'm afraid that I might lose you to him."  
Xola stopped breathing. Rein did a face palm and Sasori just looked towards my balcony.  
"Oh.." Xola said in such a soft voice that Rein had to strain her wolf senses to hear it. Then she laughed softy.  
"You're silly. Of course I like you, and your not gonna lose me."  
Genma sighed in relief. There was an extended pause. It could've been just a silence or them staring at each other but even Rein knew what was happening. Apparently so did Sasori. He stood up quickly and went to Rein's balcony to think. Rein switched off the speaker and followed him. She found him leaning against the railing, facing the beach.  
Xola was right. Deidara really had picked out some really nice chairs. They were 6 of them, pearl white wood with a few layers of some hard shiny stuff. They had squishy pillows on the seat. It was pictures of the forest, with white mountains in the back ground. The sky was a brilliant blue and these bright blue birds flying in the air.  
"You holding up, Sasori?" Rein asked, leaning against the railing, back facing the water.  
"I don't know." Sasori sighed. "I really don't know what to think."

Rein patted his back. "Everything will work out in the end."  
He smirked. "Like how you and Deidara will work out?"  
Rein turned away. "Oh shut up. We're still frienemies. He wouldn't like me."  
"You never know."  
"Whatever."  
There was a soft beeping as the front door opened. Rein pricked up her ears and turned around to see a happy Xola bound into my room.  
"Hey Rein! Sasori! What's up?" She bubbled, leaning on the back of the chair. "See what I mean by awesome chairs? I think it's sweet that he bought these for you! You two need to get together!"  
Sasori chuckled. "And I was just saying that a few seconds ago."  
Xola beamed. "There ya have it! Now! There's something I MUST discuss with you Rein!"  
"And that's my cue to leave," Sasori joked, heading for the door in mock hurry.


	16. Secrets

As soon as he left, Rein turned around to face her friend.  
"Genma kissed me!" squealed the neko. Rein put a smile on her face just for Xola. She truly was happy for her, but she felt terrible for Sasori. It should have been Sasori, not Genma... She thought. She turned around and gazed out over the campus. The smile faded from Xola's face.  
"What's wrong, Re?" Rein glared at her.  
"I told you," She growled, "to never call me that." Xola narrowed her eyes and crossed her arms across her chest. Rein sighed. "Nothing's wrong." Xola pointed at her dramatically.  
"LIES!" She screamed. Rein grabbed her arm and twisted it, making her yell in annoyance and pain.  
"Oh shut your mouth, kitty." chuckled the wolfling. "You need to learn your place." She printed to act superior, when Xola whacked her with her tail. Rein laughed and let go. The duo smiled at one another and watched the sunset.  
They talked over various subjects: school, classes, friends, extracurricular. For the last couple of minutes before the sun disappeared over the horizon, they sat in silence, enjoying the sounds of night. The cicadas hummed from the trees, and an owl sounded twice before Rein turned around and sighed peacefully. She glanced at the chairs and looked back out over the railing, blushing as she thought of Deidara.  
Xola rubbed her arm (it still hurt a little bit) and looked over at her friend. She smiled devilishly and snuck up behind her. Then she whispered in her ear.  
"Thinkin' about Deidara?"  
Rein jumped a little. "NO, YOU LITTLE FREAK!" Xola just laughed and began walking toward her room.  
"Sure, sure, whatever you say. I'm going back to my room, and hitting the hay."  
"Who says that anymore?" Rein said, smirking in a mocking way.  
"Me, that's who. I'll see you tomorrow morning." The neko yawned, and returned to her room. Rein shook her head. She yawned as well and decided she should turn in too.  
At the same time outside the rooms, Sasori ran down the hall to catch up to Genma, who was almost to the elevator. He grabbed the brunette's arm and swung him around, grabbed the collar of his shirt and pushed him into the wall.  
"How dare you!" The red-head's voice was low and cold.  
"How dare I what?" Genma spat. "You're the one who was hanging around my girlfriend."  
"You-!" He started, scowling. "Xola can do way better than some punk like you! How dare you talk to her as if she were an object you own!" Genma's eyes widened at Sasori's words.  
"You dirty little-" He pushed Sasori back a few steps. "I can talk to her any way I please! She's my girlfriend, not yours." Pain and rage flowed into the red-head's eyes. Genma stood up taller and smirked. "Oh, I see. You're angry because she's mine? Is that it?"  
"She is not your anything! You don't own her!" Sasori shouted. Just then, Tobi came around the corner.  
"Sasori! Have you seen Xola? Tobi's been looking for her since-" He stopped upon seeing the stare down.  
"Tobi, go back to your room. I'll be over in a second, right after I take out the trash." Sasori said coldly, never taking his eyes off Genma. He moved to punch him, but Tobi held him back. "Tobi! Let go of me!" Genma laughed and headed towards the stairs.  
"Face it, you son of a bitch, she's mine, not yours. Suck it up." The elevator door opened and he stepped inside.  
"If you hurt her..." Sasori began, his head hanging. "If you hurt her, I swear I'll kill you!"  
The next day was a usual day. Xola sat with Genma this time. He started to be more and more controlling, limiting who she sees and who she sits with. Now Xola has to sit with him and if she sits with the Akatsuki she has to sit by Tobi and Rein, not by Sasori. Sasori wasn't too delighted by this.  
"I can't believe what a jerk he's turning out to be," Rein complained on Monday as she watched Genma and Xola sit down across the room with the brunettes friends. "I mean, he's totally being a hypocrite. I tried explaining that to Xo this morning, but she just yelled at me and said I was jealous. As if I am! Bah!" Rein crashed her head on the table, making a loud smacking sound.  
"I totally agree, he doesn't deserve her." Sasori agreed, glaring at Genma. Rein raised her head and propped it up on her elbow.  
"Tobi thinks Rein-chan is right. Xola should stay away from him," Tobi chirped up, his voice more serious as he watched them.  
"Oh well, we'd best just leave them alone. Xo won't listen to me," Rein sighed in defeat, rubbing her sore forehead.  
"Well, I think we should do something about it!" Sasori declared. Most of the Akatsuki members were staring at them, all except Zetsu and Kakuzu, who was counting his money.  
"Hmm," Rein got a thoughtful look on her face. She looked around the table. "Any ideas, gentlemen?"  
"Well," The blonde paused.  
"Your forehead's bleeding," Sasori, Deidara, and Itachi said at the same time.  
Rein smacked her head on the table again.


	17. Advantageous Situation

After school, Rein went directly to her room, not bothering to go see Xola, for she was pretty sure Xo was still mad at her. Rein sighed as she slid the card to her door and opened it.  
Throwing her stuff on the small counter, she flopped on the couch and just laid there for a few minutes, thinking about all the drama that had happened. "First Xola is in a love triangle, and Sasori is jealous as hell, second I'm really confused about Deidara and thirdly my best friend is mad at me." She let out a loud growl and flopped on the floor. 'Well I shouldn't be surprised. This is high school!'  
Meanwhile, Xola was walking through the garden with Genma, both laughing and chattering away, all the drama from the days before gone.  
They sat down on a bench and just looked over the scenery.  
"Next week," Xola said, breaking the peaceful silence. "There's a field trip to the mountains, and I'm going to be gone for a week and a half. I won't see you till then.." She trailed off, becoming sad.  
"Don't worry, Xo, I'll be here. I'll wait," He smiled at her, his brown eyes shining.  
Xola smiled in relief and leaned against his shoulder.  
The week went by quickly. Rein and Xola made up and were friends again, and the field trip came. Xola and Genma spent 5 minutes hugging, then with a quick kiss Xola went on the bus and it drove away. Genma stood on the road, and stayed there until the bus was out of sight. When it rounded the corner, he walked back to the building, all this time Rein watching him from the window on the 3rd floor.  
'I have a bad feeling about him..' She thought, and went to her room.  
After a long bus ride, Xola's group arrived at the cabins that were on the mountain. Everyone spilled out of the bus, and Xola ran around with a bunch of her other friends. After an hour of this, everyone went inside and had dinner.  
The next day was the usual day at school. Sasori looked dead and emotionless, Tobi was sad that Xola was gone, Rein acted normal, Deidara was nicer, Hidan was the usual obnoxious loudmouth, and life went on.  
During lunch, though, Rein kept eyeing Genma. He was always around this girl, talking and laughing with her, the unmistakable look of lust in his eyes.  
Sasori noticed this too, and he just stared at his food, looking ready to kill someone.  
Rein glanced at him at the same time he glanced at her. There was no mistaking it, Genma was cheating on her.  
Sasori saw the answer resolving in Reins eyes and a wave of fury overtook him. It took all he had not to go over there and strangle the brunette.  
Rein suddenly stood up and threw her half eaten lunch away.  
"Sasori," She said, and when he looked up at her she motioned him to follow her. The Akatsuki looked at them in confusion as Sasori threw away his stuff and hurried after her.  
"Reckon what they're doing?" Hidan asked, looking around. No one had an answer.  
He shrugged and screamed "Woop woop! Get it!" after them. Deidara punched him in the arm.  
"Ow! What the fucking hell was that for?" Hidan yelled, rubbing his arm.  
"It's not like that, hmm! They probably have some important stuff to talk about." Deidara snapped.  
"Ooooo, Blondie's jealous! You want Rein all to yourself!" Hidan snickered. Deidara just punched him again as the rest laughed.  
"Whatever, hmm."  
Meanwhile, Rein was walking at a speed walk towards the garden. Sasori was running behind her.  
"Slow down, jeez!" He huffed, attempting to catch up.  
She suddenly stopped, making him crash into her.  
"Woah! What's this all about?" He demanded, pulling her up and shaking her by her shoulders.  
"You know what's going on. Genma is cheating on her!" Rein said quietly, but full of malice.  
"Yeah, I figured much so. What should we go about it? Jump him after class?"  
"I wish, but we have a problem. I'm not 100% sure that he is. She could just be a really close friend to him, but the way he looks at her creeps me out. I don't think she is, but we have no proof."  
Sasori sighed in frustration. "I don't know what to do. But we have to do something!"  
"If we did anything to him, Xola would be angry with us. We can't risk it. We'll just wait this one out. Eventually we'll catch him doing something, if he is." Rein concluded. "It's the wisest route."  
Sasori looked ready to explode, but he just sighed again. "Well... alright. I'll leave it to you, but if I'm the one that catches him doing something, nothings gonna stop me. Let that be your warning."  
"But-" "OI! RED-HEADS!" Rein was cut off by Hidan's rude outburst.  
They turned to the entrance of the garden to see Deidara and Hidan standing there.  
"You're gonna be late, you fucktards!" Hidan screamed.  
Rein rolled her eyes.

"I SAW THAT, YOU BITCH!"

She giggled and hurried up to him to walk to class.


	18. Decisions

After school, instead of walking with Hidan and Kakuzu, Rein walked with Deidara and Sasori. She kept an eye out for the cheating brunette. "Oi!" She hissed and pointed towards a bench about 30 feet away from them. There sat Genma and his little "friend" from lunch. He was rubbing her shoulder in an overly friendly way, in the way that made Rein's skin crawl. She looked away as Sasori and Deidara saw them. She heard Sasori hiss and Deidara say, "Cool it, dude, hmm."  
She looks at them and sees Deidara holding Sasori back by the arm. Rein grabs Sasori other arm and they both lead Sasori to the dorms.  
"That BASTARD!" Sasori exploded when he got into his room. Deidara and Rein sat on the couch while the fiery red-head paced back and forth in a fury.  
"I can't believe he's doing that! To XOLA!" He ranted. Rein swore she saw steam coming out of his ears. She wouldn't be surprised if she saw flames erupt from his hair.  
"I think we should just wait it out," Rein said wisely. "We're still not sure if she's a sibling or a good friend or something of that matter. We just have to wait, or-"  
"Or wait till Xola finds out for herself." Sasori finished that sentence in a hard voice.  
"That's an option, although it's not a very good one..." Rein trailed off. She sighed and subconsciously leaned on Deidara's shoulder, tired of all the drama. Deidara turned red, and his heart began to sprint.  
'His hair smells really good... I wonder what shampoo he uses?' Rein thought, then felt really stupid for thinking such a thing.  
Sasori finally gave up pacing and flopped into a chair. "I don't know what to do," He groaned. Rein closed her eyes.  
"Just relax, and chill. It won't help if your tensed up and stressing out."  
"Maybe... but- ARGH!" He broke off and grabbed his already tousled hair.  
Rein let out a long sigh. She felt so tired, she couldn't really think anymore.  
"I think we should listen to Rein," Deidara suggested. "All we can do is wait, hmm."  
Sasori groaned heavily, as if he was in severe pain. "Fine," He agreed, reluctantly. "I'll wait. Thank god Xola's on that field trip." It wasn't exactly a lie.  
"Well it's getting late, so I'd better go. Gotta do homework, hmm." Deidara said. Rein didn't move, so he tapped her arm. "Rein, you alive?"  
Sasori looked at her. "She's asleep. I thought only cat's took naps." He said, a hint of amusement in his voice.  
"Well you can include wolves in that category, hmm." Deidara said. "Get me some water, will you?"  
Sasori got up and brought back a cup of water. Deidara dipped his hand in it and carefully holding the water drops, he held open Rein's ear and poured the water into it.  
Rein howled, a high pitched painful howl, and leaped up, hitting Deidara's nose on the way up and proceeded to shake the water out.  
"You IDIOT! Do you know how much that HURTS?" She cried as she rubbed her throbbing ear. "JERK!"  
"Ouch... Hey I'm not the one who fell asleep! Plus, you hit my dose, hmm!" Deidara shot back, clutching his red nose.  
"Karma!" She spat and headed for the door. "I'll see you around Sasori." She marched out into the hallway, Deidara running out after her, calling behind him, "I'll be right back!"  
Sasori just sat there, totally confused.  
Rein stormed down the hall. "Rein!" Deidara called after her.


	19. Oh Snap!

At the cabins, the class studied rocks and went for hikes and searched for fossils. When they were done, they got an hour break. Xola sat on a faraway rock and stared at the sunset, her chin resting on her hand. She missed Genma, and Rein, and somewhat she did miss Sasori, even after Genma's restrictions of her seeing him.  
The cat sighed heavily, her tail barely moving. She wanted to go back really badly, although she felt like she needed some more fresh air.  
"Xola! Time to go back in!" The cat turned around to see her friend waving.  
"Kay!" She called back and got up, the sky darkening with the falling sun.  
That week went by quickly and the field trip ended. Xola was just about bouncing out of the bus, she was so excited. She wanted to see Genma so bad.  
After about an eternity, the bus pulled into the school parking lot. Xola was the first one out, the first to grab her bag, and the first to be back in the dorms. She threw her stuff in her room and went through the door into Rein's room. She was making ramen when Xola snuck up behind her with a hug.  
"Ah!" Rein shrieked, startled.  
"It's me!" Xola said happily. The two girls hugged and exclaimed over each other.  
Telling Rein she'll be back in the dorms later after she sees Genma, Xola pulled out of their hug and hurried off towards the guy's dormitories. Clutching Genma's room card, she rode the elevator and walked to his door. Her stomach fluttering excitedly and heart pounding at an odd pace, she slide the card through the lock and opened the door.  
"Gen..." Xola trailed off. "..ma."  
"Shit, Xola!" Genma looked up, his face turning white. Xola could barely take in the scene, Genma and another girl from her Bio class on his bed, making out, and really getting into it.  
"Genma..." Xola smiled slightly, starting to turn away, a deep and jagged pain in her stomach and chest. "It's over."  
She walked out of the room, hot tears stinging her eyes and rolling down her hot cheeks. 'Why... why...why...' was all that ran through her head.  
"Xola!" She heard someone call behind her, but it sounded very distant, as if her ears were muted.  
"Xola!" It sounded closer but she paid no heed to the voice. She wanted to destroy that voice, just erase it from the earth.  
"XOLA!" The voice was right in her ear now, and a rough hand grabbed her arm and swung her around.  
"Jeez, will you listen to-" he was cut off by Xola's solid slap across his face.  
"How could you do that to me? How? I thought you loved me..." Xola said, her voice trailing off in her sadness.  
"Xola, just hear me out," Genma started to explain, but Xola interrupted again.  
"Just tell me this; how long has this been going on?"  
Genma fidgeted before he replied, "2 months."  
Xola did the math. He started seeing that whore only a month and a half after they started going out.  
"So you were bored of me that fast, huh? You know, I hope that you won't do the same thing you did to me to another poor, innocent girl. Cause I hope they don't get hurt like I did." With that, she stomped away. "Don't bother talking to me either, I won't listen." She added as the elevator door shut.  
Genma just stood there, frustration burning in his veins.  
When Xola appeared, she found Rein, Deidara, Hidan, and Itachi all sitting on the floor and talking about weird stuff. Rein was lying on her stomach and Deidara and Hidan were sitting up while Itachi was leaning against the wall next to Rein's legs.  
Xola walked past them without a word and shut her door quietly.  
Rein immediately got up and started knocking on Xola's door. "Xo? Xo! What's wrong? Say something!"  
"I'm fine, I just need to be alone for a while." Xola's dead voice came from the other side of the door.  
"Well, alright, but I will interrogate you later! Just let me know," Rein said worriedly.  
Xola half smiled. Good old Rein, she'll always be there when she needed her.  
Xola flopped on her bed, and burst into tears of anger and sadness.  
Rein stood by the door and listened to her, anger boiling in her body.  
"I'm going to Genma's room." She stated, no shred of mercy in her voice.  
"I'll come, hmm," Deidara said. Rein nodded at him.  
"I am so in! I want to see her beat that bastard up," Hidan grinned.  
"I'll stay behind." Itachi said simply and went to his room.


	20. No Excuses

"So, why are you going to his room?" Hidan asked as they pushed the button to the elevator. "Does he have something to do with Xola's condition currently?"  
"I have two theories why Xola's upset. 1) Genma broke up with her, which I'm really doubtful about but it's possible, 2) Xola caught Genma cheating on her. I've noticed in class how he's always looking and hanging around this one girl, so that one's possible."  
"Yeah, I suppose," Hidan said as they entered the elevator doors. They never noticed Sasori hiding behind the Vending machine box on the opposite side of the room, listening to the entire conversation.  
Rein marched angrily to Genma's door and rapped furiously. She listened carefully, and heard the voice of a guy, and a girl. That flared up the wolf's anger. Her suspicions were confirmed.  
A few seconds of silence then the door opened. "Who-" As soon as the door opened Genma flew back across the room and hit the opposite wall from the force of Rein's fist connecting with his face with a loud THWACK. Hidan stifled his laughter and Deidara just stared.  
Rein pounced on Genma and grabbed his collar and shook him. "How DARE you do that to her? How dare you, you lowly piece of shit!" She shook the pleading man harder.  
The girl sprung up from the bed and grabbed Rein's arm.  
"No, stop! Please listen to me," She pleaded, tears filling her eyes. "Let me explain."  
Rein sighed and let go of the brunette's shirt but still sat on him. "Proceed."  
"Well, about two months ago, I got a phone call from someone that I didn't know. He sounded like a complete stranger and his voice sounded like he was 50. He told me to attract Genma and to do all this stuff, but that part doesn't matter, but it's all my fault!"  
Rein looked confused. "But, why did you do it? You could've just said no."  
"He threatened to kill my family, and he told me where they lived and what they looked like, so I couldn't do anything, but to listen and do as he said." Tears streamed down the girls face and she sobbed loudly.  
Rein looked at Hidan, who was standing above her, looking slightly bored and confused.  
"Well! This changes things. The girl is obviously innocent, but you!" Rein snapped her head back towards Genma. "You have no excuse. I will make your life miserable until Xola acts like herself again, which won't be soon," Rein said darkly. "You have been warned." With that, Rein got up and prodded over Genma's stomach, then stepping on his family jewels. Genma howled loudly and Rein walked out with pride. As soon as the door shut behind them, Hidan rushed ahead to laugh his religious ass off.  
Rein walked, anger fuming with every step. "Man, that was a waste of my time, dealing with that pathetic shit ball. I'm going to bed."  
"Same here, un." Deidara agreed, yawning.  
A few hours later after Xola had finished crying, someone knocked on the door again.  
"Yeah," Xola called out, sitting up and wiping her eyes.  
The door unlocked and it opened quietly. To Xola's surprise, Sasori walked in. His eyes were clearly troubled even though his face remained the same.  
"Are you ok?" Sasori asked quietly. "You look so sad..."  
"I'm fine, really," the neko tried to smile but her lips trembled. Sasori sat next to her and hesitantly put his arm around her shoulders comfortingly. Xola suddenly wrapped her arms around his waist and buried her face into his stomach and just stayed there, shuddering tears. She told him the story, and by the end Sasori was fuming with dark emotions. 'How dare he do that to her... I WILL kill him.' the redhead thought angrily, but didn't say so. He just kept saying I'm sorry, over and over again and stayed with her until her shuddering subsided and she fell asleep.  
"It's pretty obvious that you like her, you know." A soft voice said.  
Sasori looked towards the door and saw Rein, leaning against the door frame of the doors connecting the girl's rooms.  
"Yeah, I know," Sasori sighed. "Maybe I like her too much..." He trailed off.  
She looked at him with a wry smile. "I'm not sure if that's possible. Maybe you just love her."  
Love. That was the word, Sasori pondered. That was the word that described his emotions towards her for the past few weeks.  
"Just be there for her, and don't pull a Genma, or else she might kill herself," Rein winked and left the room, leaving Sasori and Xola.  
Sasori looked at Xola's tear streaked face and made a resolve. "I will never, ever leave you Xola," He whispered. "Ever."  
For the next few weeks, Xola was a zombie. She barely ate, she scarcely talked, and rarely smiled. Everyone was wise and didn't bother her. Even Tobi couldn't make her laugh.  
Sasori was probably the most worried, and above Rein, that's a lot. He would always check on her in the evenings and walk her to classes instead of Rein, because he thought that Xola would feel safer with him than Rein, which was probably true since Rein was shorter than Xola. So Rein would walk to class with Itachi.  
Three weeks later, Xola showed some Signs of Life. She ate three pieces of pizza at lunch and actually laughed at Tobi's joke.

"Well its good to have a part of Xola back," Rein commented one day as she was laughing with Tobi and was spilling milk all over Kisame, who was growling.

"Not sure if that's a good thing, she kept Tobi quiet at least," Hidan sighed in exasperation.  
Sasori just grinned and looked at Xola for a moment then turned to look at Genma. He recovered fully from "that" incident, and he was laughing quite hard with his buddies. It made him sick.

"Oh, Rein," Hidan said, turning to her. "You never told us how you got that black eye."

Rein drew her hand up to her left eye. "This? Oh, this is a souvenir. From Genma. Last week he snuck up behind me and punched me in the eye, and he proceeded to "kick my ass" but I took it from there. That's how he sprained his wrist," Rein motioned to Genma's right hand.

"You show'em, bitch!" Hidan laughed, knuckling her from across the table.

The lunch bell rang, and everyone dispersed.


End file.
